Markell: troops’ morale high in Afghanistan

Del. Gov. Jack Markell says morale is high among the U.S. troops he has seen in Afghanistan.

Markell is in Afghanistan this week as part of a Defense Department initiative allowing governors to visit troops overseas, including National Guardsmen and reservists.

Markell’s delegation left Washington on Monday after briefings at the Pentagon and a trip to Walter Reed medical center, where the governor visited with a Delawarean who has undergone more than 30 surgeries to his injured arm.

Markell stopped in Kuwait before traveling to Bagram air base in Afghanistan, where he was struck by the sight of a soldier being treated at the base hospital after losing both legs. The governor says such scenes bring home the reality of the sacrifices being made by U.S. troops.