Veteran Spotlight: Cpl. Adam Gonska
Gonska served in Kuwait, Qatar and in Afghanistan during a Middle East deployment. Some of his best memories were of the interpreters he met in Afghanistan.
He was deployed three times during his service, once in the Middle East and twice to Germany. Growing up in Sandisfield, he was sent to basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
"I was 22 years old at the time and already had a lot life experiences under my belt. The drill instructors were about my age. I had a great deal of respect for them and [they] pretty much left me alone," he said, continuing that "I had seen some pretty gruesome stuff as an EMT on the ambulance service in Southern Berkshire County, so I was prepared for casualties in combat."
Gonska's first deployment was to Kuwait, then to Qatar, finishing at Shorab, a base camp in Afghanistan.
"We were stationed with Marines," he said. "I really enjoyed working side by side with them. They put us in with the interpreters, too. That was a great experience — we shared tea and learned a lot about their culture, which they really liked — and we also got to train the Afghan army in weapons tactics."
When asked about being away for the holidays Corporal Gonska offered this: "Thanksgiving is the one that really sticks out in my mind. The chow halls did a really good job in making you feel at home. They decorated and made you feel at home with the food they cooked."
He also spoke about about two mentors that he had during deployment, both of whom provided guidance and wisdom.
"Staff Sgt. Speck was a really good mentor. He taught me a lot. We worked together during the day, ate together at
night and talked about our families all the time. Staff Sgt. Plows was another great mentor. We became good friends when I first came to the unit. He steered me away from making bad decisions. We still keep in contact," he said.
Gronska did share a life-moment that still bothers him to this day.
"We were pulling security for our detachment. Suddenly, three armored Humvees came roaring up. One stopped — thought it might have been the Taliban," he said. But they were Afghan soldiers. "They pointed a machine gun right at me and my sergeant said softly, 'you ready?' All I could see were the eyes behind the machine gun ... just saw the
hatred in the soldiers' eyes."
He also said some of the Afghan soldiers were less than reputable.
"The coalition was delivering fuel to the soldiers — next day it was all gone. They were selling it and doing God knows what else with it," Gronska said. "I did have the highest respect for the Afghan National Police, great respect. They were a totally different breed than the Afghan soldiers."
Gronska did share an extremely heartwarming story of the relationship he and other American soldiers formed with
the interpreters.
"We became friends with them on base. They loved it that we wanted to learn about their culture. Their stories were simply amazing! They actually spoke better English than we did! One interpreter spoke seven languages," he said. "We had a little going away party in honor of them and gathered some money and gave it to them to buy some local food ... had a lot of fun, sat around a bonfire. I stayed in touch with them for a couple of years. Just really good, decent people."
His thoughts on service? "I would do it again, in a heartbeat. I was quite lucky," Gronska said.
He and his wife, Sarah, currently reside in Otis with their son, Emmett. Cpl. Adam Gronska, thank you for your service to our great country.
Veteran Spotlight is a column by Wayne Soares that runs twice a month. Soares is a motivational speaker and comedian who has frequently entertained the troops overseas with the USO. To recommend a veteran for Soares' column, write to waynesoares1@gmail.com.
Soares is currently in the midst of a new television documentary on Vietnam veterans titled, "Every Time The Wind Blew," which he will host and co-produce.
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