My wife's cousin Chelsea is in Afghanistan.Interesting story. Grew up one of seven kids in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. 5 boys, 2 girls. She became a state and later national diving champion. Graduated high school with the world laid out for her. Whaddayou wanna be? Olympic hopeful? Full ride to Yale? Harvard? UC Berkeley? (I would've gone for Berkeley, for sure.)
Instead, she went to West Point. Graduated second in her class (I think), at a place where women are not welcome. Graduated as an officer. Met another officer, fell in love, got married. Two days ago she shipped out to Afghanistan. She'll be there 15 months (or so they're telling her right now) with a couple hundred men under her command. If she makes it back, she'll be a Captain.
After that, maybe another tour for the both of them, they'll come back way up the pay scale, then what? A job at the Pentagon? Who knows.
Not a career path I ever would've chosen for myself ("I can't work for that corporation"), but she seems to be going at it full tilt.
I had dinner with Chelsea's mom last night, who is on her way back to MN after seeing her daughter off in North Carolina. They had to say their goodbyes early so Chelsea could maintain composure in front of the men.
We didn't talk much about it. I had the stats rolling through my head -- incidents of rape within the ranks, how female soldiers are specifically sought out for capture by enemy forces -- but I kept it all in my head.
That this mentality still exists in our culture -- this desire to serve -- astounds me. I suspect in her case it's also a drive to challenge herself and live her life within the strictest of disciplines. Some people thrive on that.
I dunno. If it were me, I'd be entering grad school at Berkeley with a double Bachelor's in art and creative writing and a minor in growing pot. And occasionally I'd jump off the diving board and do some crazy flips and shit so they'd keep paying my bills. But that's me.
There are so many paths.
Keep your powder dry, Chelsea.
One love.
3 comments:
Yep, the worry of rape is pretty scary, but she's less likely to be a target since she's an officer and has connections. Sadly, Afghanistan is getting as dangerous as Iraq. But she sounds extremely capable, so I'll bet she'll be fine. If she can survive West Point, she certainly can take on the Taliban!
Be safe, Chelsea.
And I love the fookin' bumper sticker.
Yeah, I want one of them stickers, too. I hates hates hates the ribbon shit.
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