UPDATED: Merry Christmas/With a note from Iraq
I see Michelle Malkin and several others have linked to my Christmas column. Here’s the rcp version, which the boys in Chicago titled “The Unexpected Gift.” The column touches on very central Christmas themes, peace and joy among others. However, the frame is Iraq, summer heat, desert dust, war. Plus Beethoven.
I read this paragraph and the simple, rich moment almost (but not quite) lives again:
The chapel doors swung open. Two young MPs ambled in, their boots shedding dust picked up on patrol in the city’s tough western outskirts. A contractor, glancing at his watch, quietly placed his submachine gun on the pew as the priest nodded to the pianist.
Here’s a Christmas comment from a fellow soldier in Iraq currently on duty. He’s pulling all-day Christmas duty (I’ve done it, its no fun), but he has a little help. Note he thanks KBR . :
Christmas in Iraq has been interesting to say the least. I drew 24 hour BOC duty,
so I’m going to be up all day and all night. The fellow that was supposed to pull
duty with me is stranded in Balad, so our commander, a Lieutenant Colonel, volunteered
to pull the duty with me. Talk about Christmas spirit!The Iraqis have been wishing us Merry Christmas all day (notice I didn’t say Happy
Holidays) and one even said “congratulations” on the birth of Jesus. These folks
know the real reason for the season.I wanted to extend a word of thanks to the folks at KBR. They’ve gone out of their way
to make Christmas special for us, from food to Christmas greetings at the gate. When
I see KBR, I don’t see a multinational corporation. I see hard working folks trying
to make our life easier under the most trying of circumstances.
The LA Times ran a column comparing the treatment of War on Terror vets with Vietnam vets. It’s headlined “From Heckles to Halos.” The American public does treat our troops amd their families with the respect they deserve (though I know of a few hideous incidents to the contrary).
The column adds this thought, echoing a concern I expresse din Fall 2001 and a worry I essayed in 2003. This is the truth, and it’s a double-edged truth, with fortunate and unfortunate facets:
This is not a nation at war so much as it is an army at war. Service members and their families mostly bear the weight of the Iraq and Afghanistan missions alone — family separations, career dislocation and danger. Many soldiers are serving third tours, and there is no clear end in sight.
For civilians, the chance to directly touch a military member or family can be irresistible, so much so that people break the comfortable anonymity of public places — airports, hotels, supermarkets — to walk up and pat a soldier on the back.
“For probably the first time in American history, civilians are asked to make no sacrifices in a time of war. We don’t have a draft. There is no gas rationing the way there was in World War II. There is no increase in taxes; we get tax cuts instead,” said Charles Moskos, a leading military sociologist at Northwestern University. “These acts are small ways of showing some recognition, because we’re not doing it any other way.”
UPDATE: See the second email from the NCO pulling Christmas duty posted here.
Say what you like about Halliburton (the corporation which currently owns Kellog, Brown & Root), on the ground the folks working for KBR in Iraq do a Helluva job keeping the troops fed and providing other support every day.
Comment by Consul-At-Arms — 12/25/2005 @ 8:58 am
God bless our troops and thank you for the job you are doing. Fifty years from now historians will be writing about the major change in the middle east which started through our troops efforts. And, thanks to George Bush who had the vision and perserverence to spread democracy to the middle east despite his critics at home and abroad. C.J. Nager
Comment by Charles J. Nager, Jr. — 12/25/2005 @ 11:24 am
Thank you for your service, for your Christmas column, and for posts like this. I find it ironic that some liberal Americans actually believe they are making sacrifices in this war. All we hear are whines from the media and politicians about the loss of their civil liberties, not to mention the repetitive drone of dismal news about Iraq, the deficit, FEMA, wiretapping, Abu Ghraib, and so forth. It’s bad enough to have a war where only the military suffers, but these people are so self-centered that even when war barely touches the American people, they see themselves as its victims.
Comment by DRJ — 12/25/2005 @ 11:33 am
Thank you for your service, for your Christmas column, and for posts like this. I find it ironic that, in a war where the main sacrifices are made by our military personnel and their families, there are some liberal Americans who genuinely believe they are suffering, too. American media and politicians continually focus on the so-called loss of our civil liberties, not to mention their repetitive drone of dismal news about Iraq, the economy, the hurricane response by FEMA, etc. These liberals are so self-centered that they always have to be the victims, even though few outside the military have suffered in this war.
Comment by DRJ — 12/25/2005 @ 11:40 am
A lefty columnist (Nicholas Von Hoffman) had an article in the Observer, asking “When will this nightmare war end?” He was talking about AFGHANISTAN. [He also went on and on about how we couldn’t win in Afghanistan. The article came out the day Spin Boldak fell. Von Hoffman’s timing is not very good….] I wrote back, and asked him what he meant by “nightmare.” We haven’t been asked to DO anything. If you didn’t watch the news, you wouldn’t know there was a war on. On another note…. I’ll tell you a nice story. Last Fourth of July, my wife, two daughters, and I were in a small family-type restaurant. A young soldier came in, with two women. One looked like she was his sweetheart; the other was older, probably his mother or hers. I pulled out a small spiral notebook and a pen, and gave them to my eldest daughter (age 7). I told her what to do; she did exactly what I said. She took the pen and notebook to the soldier’s table. She waited politely for him to notice. her. Then, she asked for his autograph. The young soldier looked elated. He had a huge smile, and asked my daughter her name. He wrote her a very nice note. I hope, I really, really hope, it made him and the two with him happy. I hope he knows how we support our heroes. On still another note…. G-d bless those who serve; a category that includes my only son. ___________
Comment by RJGatorEsq — 12/25/2005 @ 12:09 pm
Thank you RJGator, and your family. And of course Col Bay who provides this wonderful site. God bless all our troops.
Comment by Maggie45 — 12/25/2005 @ 2:55 pm
I had to smile as I read your Christmas column. I remember going to chapel one year when I was deployed overseas. The service was small and the makeshift chapel tiny and crowded. We had no robed choir but a collection of guys dressed in PT gear, khaki, dungarees, and flight suits. Our hymnal was typewritten pages stapled together. Lacking any musical instruments presented no difficulties as we sang from the heart. The small room, the camaraderie, and the situation made the sound seem like it was coming from a recording studio. Somehow, I doubt that the armchair patriots at home at their liberal ease have ever known a sound so sweet. Keep up the great columns.
Comment by Will — 12/25/2005 @ 6:15 pm
Hats off to the comment from DRJ - pretty good insight about liberals having to be the center of everything. Got a great book for Christmas today - ‘1776′. When I saw the title my FIRST thought was: Where’s the liberal screaming — Turn Back it’s Too Hard! Freedom isn’t worth the effort! Where’s the reporter spinning the latest skirmish into a major defeat? I’ll give you one reason people are nice to vets these days - there’s enough of us Viet Nam era vets around who would make disrepect to our troops very uncomfortable.
Comment by Ken McNamara — 12/25/2005 @ 8:58 pm