His whole class sent them off to various friends and family here and there, in hopes they would get interesting post cards and pictures back to the classroom from their Stanleys' travels.
Elliot's Flat Stanley was mailed to our dear friend Bill, who is currently spending a year in Afghanistan. We miss him terribly.
(THIS IS BILL WITH FLAT STANLEY)
Today, Bill e-mailed Elliot with photos and a letter about Stanley's adventures with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.
And as Bill notes in his e-mail, Elliot's mama is no fan of the war or guns, but these photos are very interesting and my 8 year old boy, who is very interested in the army and, yes, guns, will love them.
Bill's e-mail to Elliot:
Dear Elliot,
Greetings from Afghanistan. I hope you are doing well. I’m sure you are looking forward to the end of the school year.
You may recall that some time ago you sent me Flat Stanley, dressed smartly in his camouflage uniform, and asked me to take him on adventures in Afghanistan. I was glad to do so.
Just last evening, I returned from a five day expedition with US Special Forces. We drove to many interesting places, talked with villagers and looked for bad guys. I figured Flat Stanley would like to come along, and he agreed. I let him do many things he probably had never done before, and he seemed to have a lot of fun.
Knowing how much your Mom loves guns (just like Aunt Kimi, who REALLY loves guns … just ask her), I thought I would introduce Flat Stanley to some of the weapons we carry on our patrols. The first picture you see is Flat helping man a machine gun, specifically an M240B 7.62mm machine gun sitting atop my up-armored Humvee. He really liked that. He wanted to shoot it, but that might have scared the people around us, so I told him we’d do that later.
Next you will see Flat Stanley on the windshield of my Hummer. He was helping me and my team pull security, watching out for bad guys as the SF and ANA (Afghan National Army) were in a nearby village checking things out. He did a great job. Nobody bothered us, and I’m sure it was because they saw Flat Stanley on guard.
The next pictures are of ol’ Flat checking out my M4 carbine, the rifle I always carry with me on patrol. It fires a 5.56mm bullet and has a 30 round magazine. It’s close to an M16, just with a shorter barrel. Again, Flat really liked checking out my long gun.
The crowning moment of Weapons Day was Flat Stanley’s hand grenade instruction. He took to it like a duck to water. He needed a little help holding it, but you can see him getting ready to throw the frag grenade I carry with me on patrols. He was just practicing; he never threw it, but he was ready if needed.
You may know that Afghanistan grows a lot of poppies, which have beautiful flowers. Unfortunately, the pod’s juice is turned into bad stuff called opium and heroine. The people of Afghanistan are so poor that many feel they must grow poppies to feed their families, since they make more money selling raw opium than growing corn or wheat. We drove through many poppy fields, and Flat Stanley saw Afghanistan’s cash crop on the vine.
The next day, Flat Stanley and I visited an old fortress in the middle of the desert. It was made of mud and hardened in the blazing Afghan sun. Though it surely is centuries old, it still stands today. I am not sure, but it could have been built by Alexander the Great of Greece/Macedonia, who came through this very area on his way to the Hindu Kush mountains. Flat was mightily impressed with the mud walls and battlements, as you can tell by the smile on his face.
Just yesterday we were out in the Afghan desert near Farah Rud, which is sort of a rough neighborhood. Flat Stanley handled himself like a real soldier. Here are some pictures of Flat Stanley, first with me, then with my terp (short for interpreter) John. John speaks Dari, Pashtu, some Urdu and Farsi (akin to Dari) and of course English (very well). We think John actually is an American trapped in an Afghan’s body. He’s a great guy and a great terp. In fact, John was wounded a couple of years ago by an RPG round when he was manning a .50 machine gun for some Special Forces soldiers.
I go on expedition again fairly soon, and I hope Flat Stanley can come with me for more fun and sights. If he does, I’ll take pictures and send them to you.
I hope these pictures (and some others I tossed in) give you an idea of Flat Stanley’s adventures here in Afghanistan. It has been a pleasure showing him around. He would make a great soldier. Thanks for sending him to visit. When he tells me he’s tired of soldiering in Afghanistan, I will carefully send him home to you.
Warmest regards,
Bill
7 comments:
Very facsinating!
Fantastic! Number One Flat Stanley adventure ever!
great to see Bill- I was wondering what you hear from him and how he is doing. Send him my prayers and thanks- for the job he is doing! Reunion will be strange without him- are you going to be there? My "usual suspects" are wavering on attending.
For those who don't know him, Bill is the most decent and good person I know. His doing this for precious Elliot is typical. He helped raise Henry! Kate's mom
I agree with Anonymous Two. This is the BEST Flat Stanley ever. EVER.
What a loving gesture from Bill.
Wow I really liked that!!! It was interesting to see what his days are like! I hope to see more of that when he writes!
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