Merry Christmas From Iraq

Well if you weren't one of the privileged few to receive a personal and handwritten Christmas card from yours truly consider this it. Unfortuntaly for you that didn't get anything its your own fault. The Santa Clause here in Iraq (i.e me) didn't have your address. So I guess you could say you're not on the "Naughty List" but the "Not Known List". Tough break kid, better luck next time. Moving on...

For some reason the lack of any Christmas bombardment like many of you are experiencing now in the states, (the music, lights, food, traffic, screaming kids, artificial snow, artificial trees and artificial smiles) Christmas here doesn't exactly feel anything like Christmas. Which is good thing. At least I think so. Honestly it has allowed me to think more about what Christmas really means. At the very least it has shown me the true feelings of being away. Now this is my 1st deployment and I have always had Christmas with at least my immediate family so it's different to be away. But today an soldier told me this was his 5th, yes the number after 4 but before 6, Christmas's away from family and I was speechless.

So today or anytime this Christmas season as your scrambling around shopping, complaining about how bad the traffic is, the airlines lost your luggage or how the cashier screwed up your checkout or whatever it may be that made your perfect Christmas, in-perfect, stop. Stop and think of the soldier who sat next to me at a bus stop on a FOB in Iraq going home to his 14x14' room who hasn't Christmas with his family in 5 years but was leading convoys across a country that could claim his life at any moment. Just a thought.

Merry Christmas & Happy News

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