I found out that one of the guys I was deployed with this past summer died while in the line of duty (he was a fire fighter) at Kadena AFB, Japan. His name is Derek Kozorosky. He died on the 11th but I didn't find out until a couple days ago. I haven't talked to him since Kuwait but I'm still taking his death hard. He was such a funny guy, so young, so full of life. It really shocked me to hear about his death.

Well, I take that back. I really didn't believe he was really dead since some guy posted something on my SO's FB last month saying that he was dead and he really wasn't. It took me a full day to realize that it was true, after I found articles and TV news videos from his home town. I feel horrible now that I didn't believe it at first.

My SO and I both knew him in Kuwait. He worked on the day shift while we worked onthe swing shift. I hung out with him and a bunch of the day crew on my day off, but I still didn't get to know him all that well. He just kept us laughing the whole night with jokes and funny stories, especially if we were all in the smoke pit smoking hooka.

It's just I keep thinking about it. There's no way he could have known when he woke up that morning that hw was going to die that day, not even when he started training that new airman that he would be pinned between a fire tanker truck and a barrier. It's things like this that really make you look at life a new way and learn just how precious it is. I think I need to readjust things in my life. I'm not using my full potential everyday.

Never take today for granted, always tell your loved ones how much you care, and forgive whenever you can.