Surviving a stint inside Purgatory

“He was always talking about how much he missed home,” said Atanasoff, 21, an anti-tank soldier with 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division. “He told me, ‘Take dirt from your home and put it in a pouch. Keep it with you and you’ll see home again.’

“Everyone makes fun of me for it, but it seemed to work for him,” Atanasoff said. “He’s home now.”

In the left breast pocket of his shirt is a complete packet of memories, including photographs of his mother, brother and sister, soil from the front yard of his boyhood home in Harrisburg, Pa., and even a little Bible his grandmother received when she graduated nursery school.

It’s hard not to think of home or showers or hot food when you’re stuck for days and weeks at a remote firebase on the barren plains of Afghanistan.

Every 10th Mountain Division soldier and officer has his own way of coping with life so far away from home. Whether making life more comfortable day to day or planning for the future, soldiers say they deal with it differently.

“Reading material. For morale purposes,” said Spc. Chris Ingersoll, with Company B, Triple Deuce.

No one can go wrong with fantasy books and mildly randy men’s magazines such as FHM and Maxim, Ingersoll said.

Propane heaters are nice to have around just to warm up soup.

“It’s a lifesaver when you’re sick of MREs,” Atanasoff said.

“You gotta bring baby wipes,” he added. “One, to bathe with. Two, for other ‘sanitary needs’ because the toilet paper in MREs is no good.”

Ask the doctor, and you get all kinds of hints. Cornstarch, alcohol pads or witch hazel applied under battle rattle stops prickly heat, said 1st Lt. Jon Stubblefield, a Triple Deuce physician’s assistant.

In Afghanistan’s super-dry air and dust, use cotton swaps to apply Carmex to lips and especially to the nostrils to stop nosebleeds, Stubblefield said. Eye drops can relieve windblown, dust-clogged eyes, he said.

“People need to invest in a good pair of tweezers” for deployments, the physician’s assistant added. “They’re good for splinters and ingrown hairs. They even help to clean weapons.”

After eight months in country, Triple Deuce soldiers recommend bringing:

• Portable DVD players that can operate on alternating current or batteries, said Sgt. Phillip Kriner. Don’t forget hard cases to protect movies and music.

• Games, said Sgt. Kevin Walters, with the 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment. Especially easy to transport games such as Connect Four, dominoes, decks of cards, electronic Yahtzee and Game Boys.

• Supportive letters from home, said Sgt. Ken Stoddard, a reservist from the 328th Engineer Company, attached to the 10th Mountain Division. “I found myself reading my letters over and over again.”

• Gold Bond medicated powder to stop prickly heat under body armor, said Chaplain (Capt.) Mark Stewart. Also, chemical foot and hand heater strips, which can last from six to 20 hours in the cold mountains, are always well received.

Finally, plan to run out of everything, said Atanasoff.

“If you smoke or dip, bring three times as much as you’ll think you’ll need,” he said. “Because if they tell you ‘three days,’ you can count on three weeks.”