At this time of year, my thoughts always return to Afghanistan. I was deployed to Bagram in 2010, which, at the time, was the busiest DoD air base in the world. To the southwest, my son was plying his trade as a Marine scout/sniper in the Musa Q'aleh region. I won't go into detail, but his skills were gainfully employed in that part of the country--very gainfully employed.  The night we left Bagram stands out in my mind; January 13th, one day after my birthday. To think I would have celebrated my fiftieth in Afghanistan would never have occurred to me.