Our little expedition begins. Right now we’re on the plane headed to Bahrain. Yesterday’s plane ride included me, Dave and Charlie in the galley making sandwiches at 39,000 feet, which was fun! They’d devised a clever menu scheme, so we easily had everyone’s orders, and we cranked them out! It was fun. Then, with 3-4 hours left on the flight, I decided it was time to get some sleep. We were landing at 0730 Germany time, so this would be my night’s sleep! So I grabbed a fat black sleeping bag from beneath the seat and curled up on the sling benches and actually got 3 solid hours of sleep which was a good thing because we didn’t get any rest once we got to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. The coaches headed up to sleep for a few hours before our first appearance, but we had to organize all the SWAG and be sure we had everything we needed. We did grab a half hour to run and shower, and after that, I felt like a new woman!
We got everything organized and headed over to Landstuhl, the largest American hospital outside of the US. (and one of the top 5 largest in the world. Over 3 miles of hallway run throughout.) 30 people a day cycle through the hospital with an average stay of about 3-4 days. The military tries to get injured soldiers to Landstuhl within 24 hours, as if they do, they have a 97% chance of survival! As soon as they’re patched up enough, and stable enough to fly, they are flown to the US to recover. No expense is spared to get soldiers to medical attention, and home as soon as possible. Because of this, most of the soldiers there were very tired, very sick, and quite scared wondering what their lives will be like now, with their new injuries, so most weren’t up for visitors. We did get to visit with a few soldiers though, and they were pleased with the company.
One young man had facial injuries due to a blast in his face, and had just come out of eye surgery. The nurses commented that he’d been morose and quiet since he’d arrived….well of course he was, he was facing the possibility of being blind for the rest of his life. He was pleased to have a diversion, as the coaches gave him t-shirts and wished him well, and I handed over the first Wounded Warrior Project, UA backpack. He thanked us all, and when I told him about his new Under Armour, he said “Sweet!” Hopefully he’ll recover quickly and get back to normal life.
Another young man had pneumonia. Poor guy goes into battle, and ends up with pneumonia! Another young man in a wheelchair was recovering from pins in his leg from fixing an injury to his lower leg. All in all, it wasn’t what I expected. We visited with a lot of the staff, which is good. While being stationed in Germany isn’t such a bad deal at all, they have a tough job. They see the worst injuries, patch them up and ship them out. They don’t get to enjoy the pleasure of watching and helping someone recover, and with 30 people a day coming in, they don’t get a whole lot of rest. A diversion like this is welcome and a great stress buster for them, and they were thrilled to meet the coaches. We also met a 3 star general at the lunch before heading in to the hospital. He was traveling around with his entourage visiting troops in theatre and in the hospital. He was a very cool guy! It was interesting to see the reaction of all the military people. Between him and the coaches, you’d have thought that the entire cast of Friends was in the house! Pictures were being snapped, everyone was posing. It’s hard to imagine having that kind of attention all the time.
We left a bunch of Under Armour stuff in the Chaplains closet, and headed out. The Chaplains closet is where soldiers can go to grab a shirt, some toiletries, some pants and shoes as when they come in wounded, usually their clothes are bloody and have been cut off, so they don’t have anything, or the ability to go buy anything. I was thrilled that we could contribute to that. We also left about 50 Wounded Warrior backpacks, so people coming in would get some. That ought to last about 2 days! L.
We headed back to the hotel, had a quick 20 minute break before it was time for the next appearance. It was totally different, tables set up in the mall on the base for military families to come meet the coaches, and get some UA gear. I gave out socks, and pants to whoever wanted some. Call me Santa Clause! It was fun, and people were very pleased with us being there.
The mall was incredible. Cinnabon and a Haribo store with tons of kinds of gummi candies. Unfortunately you had to have a military ID to purchase anything, so I didn’t get any yummy gummi bears, but it was fun to see what the military had done for the families stationed there, so they’d have some of the comforts of home. I could have believed I was in a mall in Iowa for crying out loud!
Another quick 10 minute break and it was time to head to dinner. We traveled for about 20 minutes before arriving at the lovely Bremmerhoff museum. Col Chris Lavalle, the person on the trip from AFE grew up in Germany, about 20 minutes away from the restaurant, and he was really looking forward to seeing if they have Bischoff, the beer from his home town. He’d actually purchased 2 cases upon arrival at Ramstein…one to take home, and one to give to the crew of our aircraft as a bribe for not drinking his case! It turned out the restaurant had the beer, and we all enjoyed them with our awesome authentic German meal. Brats, sauerkraut, potato pancakes (yum), mashed pots, wienersnitzel and some funky meatball thingie. It was yummy! The night ended around 2030, and we headed back to the hotel to arrive back at a very humane hour! Some people chose to go find a pub, or a few more drinks. I chose to go to my room, and enjoy a nice long 8 hour nap! While I’d felt good all day, I was starting to get tired, and welcomed the chance to catch some zzzzz’s. Plus, I knew that the 0545 call the next morning would come very early. Aside from waking up a few times worried that I would miss the wake up, I got some good solid rest.
0530 did come early, but I felt rested and popped up, packed up, dressed and went down to meet the crew. We had an hour delay or so, so we hung out in the USO lounge, I was able to download the blog, transfer some pictures to the computer, and have a few delicious German pastries for breakfast.
And here we are again, riding on the KC135, cranking out sandwiches for lunch. We’re about a half hour from landing in Bahrain where it’s going to be HOT!! I anticipate being sweaty for the next few days. I’m preparing myself for it now! Thank goodness for my Under Armour! The people on this trip are awesome, and I look forward to continuing to get to know them, and having some lifelong friends.
Oh, and the pink knife, the one I almost didn’t bring? The one that’s been of HUGE use the whole time almost stayed in Germany. I didn’t realize that we’d go through standard TSA screening at the air base, and popped it in my pocket for the flight. When I approached the metal detector and typical security setup, my stomach dropped. Not that I’m so attached to it, but it’s been so useful and a fun point of humor. When the security guy told me “Nein”, I passed it back to Pat who hadn’t come through security, hoping he’d be able to get it through somehow. I essentially wrote it off sadly. When we were seated on the plane and getting ready for takeoff, he came by my seat holding none other than, little pinkie!! He’d saved her and there was rejoicing in the land!! Next time, I’ll pack it in my luggage for the flight, which is funny because I have access to my luggage while we fly…..but whatever!
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