[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 178 (Friday, November 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S14616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CAPTAIN SETH CHAPEL

 Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this 
letter from CAPT Seth Chapel be read into the Congressional Record. 
Captain Chappell wrote this address for East Anchorage High School's 
Veterans Day Remembrance Ceremony. He is a 2000 East High graduate and 
a 2004 Graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. Captain Chappell served 
with the 37th Engineer Battalion, Combat, Airborne, in Afghanistan 
during Operation Enduring Freedom VII as a route clearance platoon 
leader a light equipment platoon leader.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                         East High Thunderbirds

       When Mrs. Strickland approached me and asked for my 
     thoughts on Veterans Day, I had to take pause for a minute. 
     For me, Veterans Day 2007 will be my first as a veteran back 
     from war, free to enjoy my long four-day weekend, sales, 
     barbecues, and all the other trappings of Veterans Day here 
     in the States. Last year at this time I was in Ghazni, 
     Afghanistan, eight months into my tour as a Route Clearance 
     platoon leader, hunting the roads of Afghanistan for bombs 
     and mines. Since returning in March, I have had time to 
     reflect on what my deployment experience and coming home has 
     meant to me, and how it shapes who I am, what I do, and what 
     I value.
       For many Americans Afghanistan is a dimly understood 
     backwater that occupies a place in world affairs somewhere 
     between interest rates and celebrity sightings. For those of 
     us who have served Afghanistan is much more. Afghanistan is 
     days of boredom and seconds of terror. Afghanistan is 120 
     degrees in the shade and you have to keep your helmet and 
     body armor on. Afghanistan is 10 degrees at night and the 
     heater in your vehicle is broken. Afghanistan is eating 
     combat rations for the 35th day in a row and showering out of 
     a water bottle for a month. Afghanistan is waking up before 
     daylight to roll out and hoping you find the roadside bombs 
     and they don't find you. Afghanistan is the car coming up 
     fast behind your convoy that you hope isn't a suicide bomber. 
     Afghanistan is going to bed at night and hoping that a mortar 
     round doesn't find you, and being so tired that you don't 
     think twice about it. Afghanistan isn't all hardship and 
     torment though. Afghanistan is the sun coming up on the 
     mountains while I drink my coffee. Afghanistan is sitting 
     with the locals and sharing tea. Most of all for me, 
     Afghanistan is the combat engineers of 2nd Platoon, Alpha 
     Company, 37th Engineer Battalion. Having the opportunity to 
     serve with such great Soldiers made all the hardship and 
     trial worth it, and looking back on the experience now, I 
     wouldn't trade a minute of it.
       The service members serving overseas today aren't much 
     different than you, and aren't much older, and are doing 
     amazing things. My twenty year old medic almost cut his life 
     short when he ran 200 meters under fire to work on a Soldier 
     with a sucking chest wound who he didn't even know. These are 
     men and women who face extraordinary circumstances and 
     hardship every day, and to see what they endure and achieve 
     is humbling. The job is hard, the risks are high, the pay is 
     low, the clock never stops, and deployments are over when 
     they are over (sometimes in excess of 15 months) and come 
     again all too soon. So why serve again and again and again? 
     Some of our Soldiers and Marines are now on their fourth tour 
     of duty in the Middle East, and still they keep coming back. 
     This morning in the Middle East, Soldiers are strapping on 
     body armor, checking weapons, and readying vehicles to go 
     outside the wire in places like Baghdad, Kandahar, and Mosul. 
     Everyday they give 100% to accomplish their mission with 
     honor and keep each other alive. As an officer, I have to 
     work hard every day to deserve the privilege to lead men and 
     women of this caliber.
       We are a nation at war, and a thin red line, less than one 
     half of one percent of Americans, are directly engaged in 
     this conflict. The great majority of Americans can go about 
     their day and think about Iraq or Afghanistan if they choose 
     to, or blow it off completely and watch Laguna Beach on MTV. 
     Whatever your political leanings may be, understand that the 
     men and women of the volunteer military serve on your behalf, 
     and stand on that wall so you don't have to. The profession 
     to which they devote themselves is defined by sacrifice and 
     service to something greater than themselves. You are high 
     school students, with a whole life before you, and how you 
     live it will either honor that service and sacrifice, or deny 
     it. Graduate, work hard, and do something to help others, 
     something that you can be proud of. Earn the sacrifice that 
     generations of Americans have made to give you this 
     birthright of opportunity.
       Lastly, I would ask you to think about how you spend 
     Veterans Day. Tomorrow I will board a plane to West Point, 
     and visit my alma mater for the first time since I graduated 
     in 2004. I'm going back to do some upkeep on the pedestrian 
     bridge that my best friend David Fraser and I built as 
     seniors for a civil engineering project. Dave won't be able 
     to join me however. His name will be read today. Captain 
     David M. Fraser was killed last year in Baghdad on November 
     26th when a roadside bomb destroyed the vehicle he was riding 
     in. Dave's commander and driver were killed in the attack 
     also. He was supposed to return to the States the next week. 
     Take the time this weekend to thank a veteran. More than 
     3,000 paratroopers are returning to Anchorage after a hard 
     tour in Iraq. You will see them out and about in town, and 
     when you do, tell them thank you. It means more than you can 
     ever know.
           Regards,
                                                 Seth L. Chappell,
     Captain, U.S. Army Engineers.

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