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Father and Son Meet Up in Afghanistan

 Two generations of VFW members, two deployed Soldiers.

 



(originally printed in the January/February 2010 issue of Checkpoint)

When Thomas Lewis was born in December 1988, his father, Dale, was getting ready to train as a combat medical specialist in the Army Reserve. Who would have thought that nearly 20 years later the two would spend time together in war-torn Afghanistan?

A member of Post 10641 in Marissa, Ill., Dale is stationed in Afghanistan at Kandahar Air Base and was able to spend a few days with his son. Thomas, also in the Army Reserve, is a computer networking/communications specialist in Combined Joint Task Force 82.

"I was very grateful that the Army sent me to customs training where my son was deployed," Dale said in an e-mail from Afghanistan. "We had a chance to really visit, and went to the PX area for pizza."

Dale, who served in both Operation Desert Storm and later in the Iraq War, says he really enjoys "networking" with NATO allies at Kandahar. He did note, however, that working at a NATO base can come with difficulties.

"The headache of jurisdictional issues working on a NATO base is the one thing I hate about this assignment," he said. "But we're working on those issues every day."

While he does get to keep busy and enjoys his service in Afghanistan, Dale said he will be happy to get home to his family this spring. Thomas is scheduled to head home in February.

"The No. 1 thing I miss from home is my wonderful wife, Melinda," Dale said, "followed closely by our other seven children still at home (Samantha, Curtis, Jacob, Alexandra, Lillian, Douglas, and Molly)."
 
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