What Are You Thankful For?

At this time when people all over this nation gather together to eat a bunch of food. Then they eat some more, have some pie, loosen the belt, watch some football and grab a nap. Some of us in the military will spend the day with those we don't even know because they have invited us into their homes to spend Thanksgiving with them. What are you thankful for?
I am so thankful for my family. I am thankful for all of you who are praying for me and my wife. I am thankful that even tho I am away from my family for two years and will be missing holiday's and other special days I know I am going to help a nation that doesn't know what it means to be free.
I am thankful most to God, who sent His Son, Jesus, to die for my sins. The Bible says that there is no other name by which man can be saved but thru Jesus Christ. There is nothing that I can do, nor you can do, to save ourselves. John tells us Jesus came not to condem the world but to save it (John 3:17).
When you gather with friends or family or people that you don't even know, thank God for them. Thank God for keeping the soldiers safe. Thank him for sending his Son for the forgiveness of our sins. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, his love endures forever.
Thank you again to all of you.

A cure for a stuffy nose

The last couple of weeks have been busy. The last two days I have done common tasks training (CTT). These are things that are drilled into your head from day one of basic training. These are refreshers and nothing new at all.
Some of the refreshers were NBC) nuclear Biological Chemical) training. I enjoyed these sessions the most as I had been the NBC NCO (sergeant) at my last unit. I was introduced to the new chemical suit that is now being used as well as the drinking tube in my protective mask. The new suits are very nice and no longer leave a charcoal residue on you when you wear them. The drinking tube is placed at the side of the mouth instead of in the front of your mouth. I was also a re-introduced to the gas chamber.
The gas chamber is where a soldier goes to perform a confidence check with his chemical mask. The gas chamber is filled with CS gas and you go into the chamber, do some exercises and ensure your mask has a good seal. This way you know that your mask will be protected in the event of a chemical attack. You also must break the seal and re-seal the mask. In doing so you ALWAYS get a taste of the CS.
I have not been in a gas chamber since I stumbled into one at Fort Bragg in 1996 or 1997. I forgot how it tastes and how it burns. I also forgot that 30 -40 feet away from the exit is not the correct place to volunteer to take off your mask and walk out of the chamber. That doesn't seem all that far but when you inhale right by where the CS is burning it feels more like a couple of miles.
Walking out of the gas chamber wasn't all that bad, it was the oxygen hitting my face that was terrible. My eyes burned, my face burned, snotty was running out of my nose, and I was gagging. I did remember the one DO NOT touch or wipe your eyes when you get out of the chamber, it only makes it worse.
So I am outside trying to regain vision and "the challenge" is taking place. The challenge is a bunch of other wise intelligent guys standing in the gas chamber with no mask seeing who can last the longest. (Insert favorite infantry joke here) Much to everyone's displeasure the instructors called time and ruined eveyones fun. Grunts, you just can't take them anywhere.
On the bright side, I am able to breath through my nose for the first time since the first this spring. I have found the cure to a stuffy nose!