Smith & Agli's Potbelly Manor

Normand:

Normand is a Sargeant in the United States Army National Guard with the 1/182nd Infantry at Camp Fogarty in Rhode Island.

"The military is a brotherhood unlike anything I have experienced in civilian life. You become very close-your lives depend on each other. We are family."

Normand has served in two branches of the military.  He joined the Marines in 1992 just out of high school. Normand has a penchant for doing things in dramatic fashion so understandably his first assignment was working with C5 explosives.  Following his service with the Marines he took a short leave and is now with the Rhode Island Army National Guard 1/182nd Infantry Unit. 

Deployments:
Normand served on the front lines in Iraq in 2006.  His unit's duties included providing support to convoys in Anbar Province and other security duties which put him in harm'. 

Normand is currently deployed to Afghanistan.  He is a team leader attached to the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team and will be on active duty until April 2012.  The 182nd spent three months at Camp Atterbury in Indiana training for their mission in Afghanistan so ultimately Normand and his fellow soldiers will have dedicated one year of their lives serving our country on this deployment.

Think it's hot here???  On a typical day in Afghanistan the average temperature is115 degrees.  Did we mention the 50lbs of gear the soldiers carry?  The sand storms?? Unrelenting sun?? Absence of comforts of home??


Photos:

Norm in Afghanistan:





Sgt. Normand Gagnon, team leader attached to Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, scans the mountainside for enemy activity while on a patrol in Alingar district July 13. Laghman PRT's mission was to meet with the Alingar district leaders then perform a final inspection on two construction projects in the area. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane) PRT Laghman

 
Norm at Camp Atterbury, Indiana training for Afghanistan.

RG-31 armored vehicle-Norm's mode of transportation in Afghanistan: 

Audrey with Uncle Sam, star of the commercial
          Ariel was in on June 25th.

The Star-Spangled Banner                 The Star-Spangled Banner                         Lyrics, by Francis Scott Key: Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore dimly seen, thro' the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected, now shines in the stream; 'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, Oh long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, "In God is our trust" And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore dimly seen, thro' the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected, now shines in the stream; 'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, Oh long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, "In God is our trust" And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!