Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): Entity: line 15: parser error : Opening and ending tag mismatch: link line 6 and head in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():   </head> in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():          ^ in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): Entity: line 22: parser error : Opening and ending tag mismatch: img line 18 and div in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():     </div> in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():           ^ in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): Entity: line 31: parser error : EntityRef: expecting ';' in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): .hostname + '/' + document.location.pathname + document.location.search + "&from in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():                                                                                ^ in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): Entity: line 194: parser error : Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 17 and body in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():   </body> in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():          ^ in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): Entity: line 195: parser error : Opening and ending tag mismatch: body line 16 and html in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): </html> in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():        ^ in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): Entity: line 196: parser error : Premature end of data in tag meta line 4 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():  in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): ^ in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): Entity: line 196: parser error : Premature end of data in tag head line 3 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():  in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): ^ in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): Entity: line 196: parser error : Premature end of data in tag html line 2 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct():  in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::__construct(): ^ in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/posterous/posterous-api.php on line 178

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 516 and style in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 544 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: style line 29 and head in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 547 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 557 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 557 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 558 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 558 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 566 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 567 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 563 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 567 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 569 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 572 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 549 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 574 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 577 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 578 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: body line 548 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 578 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 580 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 583 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: head line 3 and div in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 585 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: html line 2 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 585 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Extra content at the end of the document in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/report_from_afghanistan/private/30/, line: 587 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 516 and style in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 544 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: style line 29 and head in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 547 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 557 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 557 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 558 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 558 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 566 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 567 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 563 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 567 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 569 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 572 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 549 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 574 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 577 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 578 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: body line 548 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 578 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 580 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 583 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: head line 3 and div in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 585 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: html line 2 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 585 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Extra content at the end of the document in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/a_soldiers_perspective/private/30/, line: 587 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 516 and style in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 544 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: style line 29 and head in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 547 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 557 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 557 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 558 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 558 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 566 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 567 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 563 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 567 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 569 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 572 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 549 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 574 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: div line 577 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 578 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: body line 548 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 578 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 580 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): EntityRef: expecting ';' in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 583 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: head line 3 and div in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 585 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: html line 2 and br in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 585 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143

Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Extra content at the end of the document in http://www.vpr.net/rss_by_tag/afghanistan/private/30/, line: 587 in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php on line 143
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<meta name="keywords" content="Afghanistan, Vermont National Guard, Steve Zind, VPR, Vermont Public Radio" />
<meta name="description" content="VPR's Steve Zind reports from Afghanistan covering some of the 1,500 members of the Vermont National Guard who are deployed there. He provides a close-up view of the Guard's mission and how things are going from their perspective. In addition to filing reports for broadcast on VPR, he blogs about about his own experiences at his Reporter's Journal." />
<title>VPR: Report From Afghanistan</title>

<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" />
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" />

<link href="css/reset-screen.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" />
<link href="css/layout-screen.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" />
<link href="css/content-screen.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" />
<link href="/_common/css/vpr_css-layout-print.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" />
<link href="/_common/css/vpr_css-content-print.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" />

<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript" language="javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
    jQuery.noConflict(); // http://docs.jquery.com/Using_jQuery_with_Other_Libraries
</script>
<script src="http://www.vpr.net/audio_player/js/swfobject.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="http://www.vpr.net/js/non_propeller.js" type="text/javascript" language="javascript"></script>

<script src="js/jquery.timer.js" type="text/javascript" language="javascript"></script>
<script src="js/jquery.delay.js" type="text/javascript" language="javascript"></script>
<script src="js/content.js" type="text/javascript" language="javascript"></script>

</head>
<body>
<script src="https://ssl.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
	_uacct = "UA-1741309-60"; // industry-wide metrics project (PMW, see Basecamp for explanation)
	urchinTracker();
	_uff=0;
	_uacct = "UA-1536785-1"; // vpr's code
	urchinTracker();	
</script>
<!-- page design requires wrapper divs -->
<!-- multiple backgrounds not supported in CSS 2, thus a wrapper header and footer is necessary -->

<map id="_ad_map" name="ad_map">
<area shape="rect" coords="14,161,121,196" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker('/_events/clicks/vtgardenjournal/gardenerssupplyhome');" href="http://www.gardeners.com/" alt="" title=""    />
<area shape="rect" coords="165,160,272,195" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker('/_events/clicks/vtgardenjournal/gardenerssupplystore');" href="http://www.gardeners.com/Visit-Our-Vermont-Stores/5150,default,pg.html" alt="" title=""    />
</map>

<div id="page">
    <div id="content">
        <div class="inner">
        <ul class="feature">
			<p id="top_note">Listen to the <a href="http://www.vpr.net/episode/50043/">VPR News Documentary "Afghanistan's Other War"</a><br/>Wednesday, December 15 at 6PM and Saturday December 18 on VPR</p>
            <li class="content overview" style="margin-top: 15;">
				<div id="page_nav">
					<p style="margin: 0 0 5px;">Jump to:</p>
					<ul style="line-height: 2.0em">
												<li><strong><a href="#blog_reporters_journal">Blog: Reporter's Journal</a></strong></li>
												<li><strong><a href="http://www.vpr.net/community/gallery/115/">Photos From Afghanistan</a></strong></li>
											</ul>
				</div>
			</li>

						
            <li class="content posterous">
				<h2><a name="blog_reporters_journal"></a><a href="http://vprreportfromafghanistan.posterous.com/">Blog: Reporter's Journal</a></h2>
				<p>Steve provides additional comments, observations, and photos in this online Reporter's Journal.  This is in addition to his on-air broadcast "<a href="/news/afghanistan/index.php#report_from_afghanistan">Reports From Afghanistan (above)</a>."  Click here to <a href="http://vprreportfromafghanistan.posterous.com/" target="_blank">view the entire Blog " Reporter's Journal by Steve Zind"</a>. Entries from the Journal are displayed in reverse chronological order.</p><br/>
				
								    <p><em>We're having a little trouble at the moment loading these stories.  Please try again later.</em></p>
								
				<br/>
				<a href="http://vprreportfromafghanistan.posterous.com/" target="_blank">... Continue reading at the VPR In Afghanistan 2010 Blog</a>
            </li>
            
			
			        </ul>
    	</div> <!-- #content .inner -->
    	<ul id="related">
    	   <li class="content facts">
				<h3>Supported by</h3>
				<script language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript' src='http://www.vpr.net/adserver/adx.js'></script>
				<script language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'>
				   if (!document.phpAds_used) document.phpAds_used = ',';
				   phpAds_random = new String (Math.random()); phpAds_random = phpAds_random.substring(2, 11);
				   
				   document.write ("<" + "script language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript' src='");
				   document.write ("http://www.vpr.net/adserver/adjs.php?n=" + phpAds_random);
				   document.write ("&amp;what=zone:17");
				   document.write ("&amp;exclude=" + document.phpAds_used);
				   if (document.referrer)
					  document.write ("&amp;referer=" + escape(document.referrer));
				   document.write ("'><" + "/script>");
				</script><noscript><a href="http://www.vpr.net/adserver/adclick.php?n=abd5bfef" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.vpr.net/adserver/adview.php?what=zone:17&amp;n=abd5bfef" border="0" alt="" /></a></noscript>
            </li>
			<li class="content gallery">
				<h2>Photos</h2>
				<div class="gallery-container" style="margin: auto;">
					<dl class="gallery slideshow">
						
Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Zend_Feed_Exception' with message 'Feed failed to load, got response code 503' in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/third_party/ZendFramework/library/Zend/Feed.php:177
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php(28): Zend_Feed::import('http://www.vpr....')
#1 /var/www/staging.vpr.net/htdocs/news/afghanistan/index.php(427): gallery_output('http://www.vpr....')
#2 {main}
  thrown in /var/www/staging.vpr.net/third_party/ZendFramework/library/Zend/Feed.php on line 177