Deployment Journal: Keeping things in perspective

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
HERAT, Afghanistan --  Why is it for the typical 4 or 5 year old, a neighborhood seems like a vast locale, while for many adults, hopping on a flight from America's East to West Coast doesn't seem like an overly grand travel?

I assume as we gain life experiences, our reality changes, and that has a lot to do with our perspectives.

This week I was reminded of this phenomenon while delivering photos to our medical clinic.

While there, I happened upon a young Afghan boy and his 3-year-old sister suffering from injuries in what their father explained was an oil lamp exploding.

Both kids had burns and bodily lacerations.

The attending military nurse told me that she believed their family must have been making improvised explosive devices in their house because things don't just explode.

Growing up in America in the late 20th Century, I can see how she developed that outlook. From her perspective, things in houses shouldn't just explode.

I wondered had she grown up a 100 years ago, when American houses and streets were illuminated by oil lamps, if she'd have that same point of view.

In 1871, Chicago nearly burnt down during the Great Chicago Fire. While the cause of the fire remains uncertain, many believe it started as a result of a cow kicking over an oil lamp. Others believe the lamp exploded, as that wasn't such a rare occurrence in the late 1800s.

I've been to the village that Afghan family lives in, and know for certain that there has never been a power grid or electricity in that, or the surrounding areas.

I've also visited their houses and saw their only method of light is oil lamps and that many burn a wide-array of items for heat. Many poor villagers living in Northern Badghis Province during the brutal winters will burn pretty much anything to stay warm.

Reeling back to the injured Afghan children, is it possible their family was building IEDs?

Sure it is.

Is it possible that an oil lamp exploded in their house?

That's possible, as well.

Was the nurse wrong for feeling the way she did?

I don't think so.

I think from her perspective, that's the only imaginable situation. But, what I'm certain we can take from this is it behooves us all to keep an open mind and try to view the world as openly as possible.

I try to grow from everything I encounter - good or bad. Just when I think I've got a fairly firm grip on what's what, I'm exposed to something new.

I don't fault the nurse for her viewpoint - it's all she knows. But the encounter reminds me open-mindedness is the key to understanding others and as American Airmen, we're duty bound to continue to make ourselves better.