Nine years ago MySpace and Facebook did not exist. Nine years ago the TV sitcom Friends still had three years remaining, the first iPod was released and Tiger Woods looked unbeatable.
Nine years ago I was 11 and the World Trade Centers fell; the United States responded by invading Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001.
Gavin Colson, nine years ago, was also 11. I would not meet him for another five years, until we met in high school and became friends.
A little more than a year ago, Gavin joined the U.S. Army and is now Gavin Turner Colson, Private 1st Class, 10th Mountain Infantry. He was on leave from his base in Fort Polk, La., for these past few weeks, and he came down to Eugene to see me and many of his other friends. I had a chance to interview him on Oct. 9, 2010 — nine years and two days after the United State’s first bombs fell on Kabul.
Colson’s reasons for joining the war were very typical: “I guess I wanted the experience,” he said. “I wanted to travel, to see the world. I wanted the experience of accomplishing something.”
This notion of accomplishing something is important, because the war in Afghanistan has become the longest conflict in United States’ military history. Longer then the Civil War, both World Wars and the Vietnam War. Questions have been raised throughout the country as to just what exactly is being, or even can be, accomplished in Afghanistan.
“It’s for the same reason it was important to make sure Iraq was stable before we left,” Colson said. “To help flush out the Taliban and help the Iraqis build a stable army for themselves. It’s the same goal for Afghanistan. To go out on missions with them, to teach and instruct them. We’re going there to provide them with security, to help them stabilize.”
Colson isn’t exactly sure when he will be deployed, but he knows it wont be any later than Nov. 4.
“I’m excited. I mean, a year is a long time to spend (in Afghanistan), but I guess it hasn’t really hit me yet that I’m going to war. But I’m excited,” he said. “I’ve been training for a year now, so I’m anxious to get started. I want to do something good. I want to be able to say when I get back (to the U.S.) that I accomplished something.”
He talked about the Afghan troops America is training. Would be training. I told him I had seen a report on the news that said 98 percent of the volunteer Afghan soldiers couldn’t read and 90 percent couldn’t drive a car.
“I mean you can’t just roll in there and expect them (the Afghan soldiers) to be completely ready,” Colson said. “You have to start somewhere. I mean, we’re basically there to build a whole new army, and you don’t have a whole lot of educated people signing up because the people there are terrified by al-Qaida. But that’s our goal: to stabilize the area, so more people will sign up, more Afghans will step up to help their country.”
“The war now, it isn’t so much constant firefights with al-Qaida,” he continued. “It’s about winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. Obviously you can’t completely flush out all of al-Qaida. In the long run,” he said.
I feel proud to have a friend who is willing to sacrifice so much for a country that is about as far removed, distance-wise, from our own as you can get. At the same time, Afghanistan is extremely important, despite its physical distance, to the security of not just the United States, but the entire world. We have to accomplish our goal there to keep our enemies on the run. Nine years from now, I am sure that Gavin will be able to look back and say that he accomplished something great. And I will be there to give him my thanks and gratitude for all that he has done.
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