Wordless Wednesday: Afghanistan

The daughter of my best friend from college, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis), is being deployed to Afghanistan this week; she's 24. This photo is in her honor. She wanted to be a pilot (en route to astronaut) but bad genes nixed flying. Frankly, I'm glad she's not piloting a medevac helicopter. I think (I hope) she's safer on the ground on the "base" (for some definition of base).

The sun rises as a U.S. Army helicopter flies over the Kunar River on October 21, 2008 near Asadabad in the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan. American military units there are engaged in some of the fiercest fighting with the Taliban in the country. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)