Lansing - As more than 75 people ate platters of melons and salad, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers recounted sometimes brutal tales of his time in Afghanistan.
The Brighton Republican left three weeks ago as part of a week-long tour with the House Military Construction Appropriations Committee.
Webberville resident Richard Hamlin was one of the many who paid the $3 to eat and listen in the Central United Methodist Church, 215 N. Capitol Ave. in Lansing.
“I wanted to take a look at what he’s been doing overseas,” Hamlin said.
While much of what Rogers discussed wouldn’t directly pertain to Hamlin’s life, he said the topic is “very important.”
Rogers began his talk by showing a tape of footage he shot for WXYZ-TV in Detroit.
Rogers flew with the other congressmen into Kazhikstan before taking a helicopter to Afghanistan.
Even before his ride landed, any ideas that American involvement in the region was simple or close to ending were dispelled.
Rogers said as the helicopter landed, personnel watched the landscape with binoculars for smoke trails coming from missiles occasionally shot at aircrafts that are landing and taking off.
“It makes you a little nervous,” he said.
From there, the group rode in a convoy of armored sport-utility vehicles through the country, where a nervous soldier gave Rogers an MP5 machine gun to use in case of attack after learning of Roger’s history in the FBI.
Rogers said he learned a lot seeing children’s reactions to the American flag and the condition of the Afghan people, including the need for more U.S. aid.
“You ought to talk to some of the kids in these orphanages and ask them if we should be there,” he said.
Rogers also recollected his visit to an Afghan hospital.
“Have you ever seen a dog that’s been beaten; it sort of cowers,” he said. “Every woman in this place acted like that.”
Rogers said after seeing these scenes, he couldn’t support pulling U.S. personnel out of Afghanistan and said he wanted to see more aid in the form of mattresses and sheets as well as aid to schools.
At certain points during his talk, Rogers told the audience he would spare them some of the details since many of them were eating.
Mahbuba Fidda, an Afghan refugee who moved to the U.S. in 1998, said the talk could have offered more ideas on how to help.
“You didn’t see what exactly he wanted to do,” she said.
