A Cautionary Tale

Down the line of shacks on the edge of Camp Blackhorse there's a small mod
structure with an aluminum exterior. It's equivalent to the portable offices you'd
find on construction sites. Above the door of this particular mod a fluorescent light
is kept on 24/7. Until a few months ago it acted the living quarters of a civilian
contractor working at the base.

Though information is thin, the basic facts are that he decided, on a day off, to go
into Kabul by himself. A while later his decapitated body was found. And so the light
remains on above the doorway as a small memorial to a life lost but also as a
cautionary tale to those who think Kabul is a place to go wondering around as a
tourist. It's a quiet, brutal reminder that there are people all around who may or
may not want to kill us.

And while quiet monuments to the fallen are taken as granted in this environment
this can easily be seen as a monument to folly.