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> Soldier in Afghanistan calls City Hall

A phone call from Staff Sergeant Anthony Silva III, U.S. Marine Corps, made my day yesterday (Friday, March 4, 2011).

This was not just any phone call. The Sergeant was calling from Afghanistan with a special request.

And this was not just any day. It was my birthday (turned 45).

The request from Sgt. Silva was simple: a U.S. flag, a California flag and a sign that said, "Sacramento City Limits."

Why would a Marine Sergeant in Afghanistan want those items?

Sgt. Silva said his infantry platoon is building a patrol base. It will take a few days, but the base will be the platoon's home, featuring all the comforts required by Marines, including sandbags, wire, tents and Haskell barriers.

And he said something else, something that brought the flags and City Limits sign together: this base is named "Sacramento."

The base will operate for a couple of years. Sgt. Silva obviously wasn't able to say too much, but he did say Afghanistan patrol bases are used as staging grounds for soldiers who hunt Taliban.

Sgt. Silva, who comes from a small town in the San Joaquin Valley, said he "liked the sound of Patrol Base Sacramento." I kind of liked it, too.

The goal, he said, was to fly the flags proudly at the Patrol Base Sacramento. The City Limits sign will stand at the gates.

Maybe I'm getting sentimental, but the call from Sgt. Silva, his voice on the end of a scratchy phone line, was exactly what I needed to hear.

The fact that a Marine sergeant - a volunteer risking his life for his country, courageously working thousands of miles from his family - would call to talk about Patrol Base Sacramento, that was amazing.

It was amazing, because it gave perspective to the work we all do and problems we all have.

Sgt. Silva didn't know about the problems we're dealing with in Sacramento -- keeping the Kings, building an entertainment and sports complex, K Street and rail yard redevelopment, the future of Fire Recovery billing, etc.

Sgt. Silva, who is responsible for the lives and safety of his platoon, has his own problems. As of March 1, 1,470 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan. Three died last week.

I wrote down the mailing details for Patrol Base Sacramento, and read them back to Sgt. Silva.

"That's a solid copy, sir," he said.

I thanked him for his patriotism and courage, and for the phone call. I said the goods would be on their way. He was very appreciative and wished everyone well in Sacramento.

"Solid copy sir," I told him.

- Kevin