Sam BrandtEnglish I

Life is Precious Life is precious. On one cold afternoon of my second deployment on January 18th 2012, I

found out really how precious it was as my team and I patrolled the rocky and anthrax coated soil

in the small southern village of Kajaki, Afghanistan.

It was late June of 2011 when I got the word I would be deployed yet again to Afghanistan.

“Wow!”, I said. A little caught off guard, I was hoping to go on a MEU (ship) to a couple of different

countries and not the wind, sand and rocky soil of Afghanistan. The following day I got to meet

the team of guys I would do training with and deploy with. The good news was I had the 4th of July

weekend to decompress, catch my thoughts, and mentally prep for the training exercise, which

was a month long. It was a tough weekend making phone calls to family telling them I was

deploying again. Even though its was going to be my second deployment, just the thought of

doing all the exercises to work up for it left a knot in my stomach.

On July 9th 2011, I waited at the armory to get my rifle, which would be my friend for the

training work up. My rifle was an M4 with a smooth barrel with groves on the end; a compact

buttock and can hold 30 rounds in the clip. As I grabbed it from the armor I checked it over for

any defects. The bus pulled up to pick us all up to head to Twentynine Palms, CA. Here, the

temperature was 120 degrees- hot enough to melt your shoes on the asphalt. It was a two hour

bus drive to get there. I find myself pondering about the exercise and what all it will cover over

the month. As we got closer I could feel the heat getting hotter through my window as if I had

opened an oven door.

The sudden stop of the bus awoke me from a little nap. We had arrived at the gate of

Twentynine Palms base. We traveled to Camp Wilson, which was the training Camp on the base.

Here, we went through classes for the next couple of days on things like desert safety, wild life

and radio procedures. Camp Wilson was a luxury hotel stay compared to where we were going in

the desert. The next day later, Gunnery Sergeant gave my team of four our mission and where we

would be. Like I thought, because of past experiences, we were assigned to the middle of

nowhere. No cellphone service or showers for the next two weeks. My team and I gathered our

gear up for the 7-ton vehicle that was coming at 2pm. “It’s here!” I said to my team; the 7-ton is

very loud so I knew it was there. We all packed on. It was a tight fit with us and other military

personnel squished on there like sardines in a can. Dust flew everywhere as we drove down a

bumpy desert road to the Patrol base where we were held for the start of the exercise. We were

all very bored as we waited to find out where the unit needed us throughout their mission.

Eventually, we came to find out that the unit didn’t need us as much as we thought, due to their

lack of knowledge of our capabilities. While baking in the sun and sweating all day and night after

weeks of training, the good news finally arrived: we got to head back to Camp Wilson. On August

10, 2011, it was finally time to head back to our base in Camp Pendleton, CA where we had three

and a half months until we left for deployment.

Time flew by, and I was able to take leave and see my family and girlfriend. Leave is

pleasant in the beginning because you are able to do all kinds of fun stuff and catch up with old

friends. Then, like a ton of bricks on your shoulders, you have to leave. One would think this

would put people in a lugubrious mood. However, with my family full of smiles, hopefulness,

thankfulness, and words of encouragement, such as, “ God carried you through the last

deployment and he will get you through this one too!” I realized how thankful I was for a

synergetic family and all their support. I headed back to California for two weeks before I left on

December 22nd. I used those two weeks to get organized for the 7-month deployment and to

spend time with the ministry I was part of, Faith Warrior Ministry. They were truly my second

family out in California.

The time finally came. I waited patiently for the buses to take us to March Air Force base in

Riverside County, CA for our plane that would soon take us to Canada, Germany, Romania and

Kyrgyzstan. Once on the plane, I took my last look of the United States for seven months, and off

we went. After 36 hours of flying, we made it to Kyrgyzstan where the temperature is -1 degrees.

It was late at night and we had to unload and organize all of our bags with numb, cold hands.

After a good nights rest, we got ready to board our last flight that would take us right into Camp

Leatherneck, which was one of the main bases in Afghanistan. There, we had briefs and extra

training about where we would be assigned in Helmand Province. After a week we headed out to

Kajaki, which has a hydroelectric dam that supplies power to a good portion of Southern

Helmand Province.

As we crested up over the mountaintops I could tell we were here by the view of the dam

and the lake behind it. We spent the first couple of days getting settled into and existing Afghan

building on a forward operating base called Zeebrugge. The building wasn’t anything fancy but

we had electric in it. After what seemed like forever, we finally got our mission approved to

provide intelligence of the Taliban.

Once we received our mission we decided we wanted to do it at night, but it got denied.

Instead, one late afternoon on a nice sunny day in Kajaki we head out onto an 8-man patrol in

front of the Patrol base approximately 2 miles from Zeebrugge. I was the 7th person in the line up

responsible for my team’s communication.

That afternoon, a question my team asked me was running through my head. They asked if

I was going to be able to pull the trigger and shoot at someone. As I nodded my head up and down

I said, “Why did you ask?” We know how friendly you are. I told them if someone were trying to

endanger my team or I, I would pull the trigger. During the first five minutes into the patrol we

got pop shots. Everybody got down and took cove. After we waited a while, we were not able to

find the enemy. We decide to proceed with the mission. Just minutes back into patrolling we

starting taking heavy machine guns fire to the northeast. Wow I said to myself this is real! The

first couple seconds were surreal but then my marine corps training and instincts kicked in.

Laying there on the ground in a wide-open field and nothing to get behind. Yelling to my team I

let them know that I saw two shooters: one on top of the build with a big pine tree in front and

the other inside shooting out of the window. While lying shooting at the enemy I could see the

bullets impacting 5 to 10 feet in front of my teammates. I prayed to God to let my team and I walk

away from this and live another day. In my head I kept reciting a bible verse that I kept near and

dear to my heart on the battle field, which is Psalm 144:1 Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who

trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. After suppressing the enemy for 30 minutes we get

help for the security posts on the patrol base. Finally we start to make are way back to base. We

get there with everyone’s adrenaline though the roof. My teammates were impressed with how I

handled everything and reacted quickly.

I gained a new prospective on life and my meaning and purpose on earth. I am here to

motivate and inspire those living in darkness to a new light and happiness. God got me through

all the craziness of both my deployments so I lift up praise to him. Through all of this I have come

to realize how life is precious! We have now. We must act upon it. We have to make the most of

our lives each and every day to be the very best that we can be. “ Don’t just sit around and wait

for the life you want, get up and take action of your life”