We had one.  Another platoon that operated in the same area actually hit one.  They had hit one a couple months earlier too.  Luckily they survived that.  We lost two people in the first two weeks we were in Afghanistan from an IED (improvised explosive device).

After coming back home, you think about Afghanistan and how it was driving there compared to here. Occasionally it will go through your mind, driving down the road, to look out for IEDs.  It's an instinct that is hard to turn off.  When I went to drill last month, going to Winchester on 81, it happened.  And it was just a tire from a tractor trailer recap up ahead. It doesn't happen every day.  I could go a couple of weeks, a month and not see it.  But driving down the road, something’s going to click in your mind.

Mike was deployed to Kuwait for a second tour as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007-2008. He is now retired from the military.

Text was condensed and edited from interviews conducted by Jennifer Karady in August 2006.