mike emanuel, the only tv reporter traveling with secretary gates, and he's streaming live to us from camp egg's military -- eggers military base in kabul with more. hi, mike. >> reporter: hi, megyn. yeah, secretary gates has talked about the need to get out of the bubble, to get out and speak with troops about their concerns, what they are seeing and to talk about what they feel about how things are going in terms of recent operations. so today we flew with secretary gates to kandahar. if that name sounds familiar, that's because a major offensive is going to take place there in the coming months, and secretary gates awarded the silver star to two american soldiers for their bravery in comments. he took questions from soldiers and marines during his different stops, shook many hands, posed for lots of photos with our troops. so much is about thanking the troops for their service and expressing gratitude to their families for their contributions and sacrifices. secretary gates also presented a marine lance corporal with a purple heart for his bravery in