Afghanistan Wars Are Personal: The Story of My Little Brother in an Afghan Firefight

My brother, Sgt. Robert L. Proctor of "A" Battery, 138^th Infantry Kentucky National Guard out of Carrollton, Kentucky, was - according to him - supposed to be going to a hardened fort to guard it somewhere in southern Afghanistan. Between our mother freaking out and his wife being upset, it is understandable that, regardless of what he really knew about his mission, he would minimize any personal danger.

He shipped out with his unit in October, and I managed to be there to see him off through amazingly fortuitous timing. They went to Fort Dix, where they were trained in various specialties that were not shooting artillery - their true specialty - including military police. And then in January, they were all shipped to Afghanistan.

All I really heard after that, secondhand through occasional phone calls, was that he couldn't believe how poor the Afghanis were, and that all he really wanted anyone to send him was wrapped non-chocolate candy and pencils; they, he said, were gold to the kids there. Oh, and Big Red (soft drink) for himself.

I was surprised. Not that Rob's a greedy guy, but he likes his comfort. I anticipated requests for the next Socom or something like that. No, just stuff for the little kids, and maybe pictures of his own two kids.

It was really shocking when I talked to my mother and she told me that Rob and his unit had been in a firefight.

Sunday, May 20, Helmand Province, Afghanistan

We're not hearing anything about it in the news here in the US - our media is much too concerned with whether Paris is going to hate jail and the latest nasty comment from Rosie O'Donnell - but over there in Afghanistan, NATO has largely taken over operations, with a large US presence alongside international troops and a gradually-increasing population of Afghan troops.