Star Notes
“Holidays in a War Zone“
By Richard K. Sele
Brigadier General (Retired), US Army
One unfortunate aspect of military service is time spent away in war zones during the holiday season. Troops always find ways though to bring out that holiday spirit regardless of where they are.
One of the many decorations in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team Tactical Operations Center, Iraq 2005.
Decorations typically pop up in the operating base dining facilities or tents. The operations center will usually have some decorations here and there. If there is a common area, such as on the larger hardstand operating bases, one will usually find a Christmas tree and decorations or symbols of other religious faiths. Packages from home, greeting cards and letters addressed to “any service member”, care packages from veterans groups like the VFW or community groups and schools, were absolutely always appreciated in my experiences.
Then-Lieutenant Sele in Desert Shield/Storm on Christmas Day.
During my 2005-2006 deployment to Iraq the Sayville VFW post graciously sent my unit packages of snacks for Christmas. My soldiers loved receiving those boxes!
Some of those holiday season letters become memorable experiences. During Desert Shield/Storm I received an “any soldier” letter from a grade school student.
3rd Infantry Division soldiers enjoy a feast on Christmas Day, Iraq 2005.
As I recall she mailed it sometime around Christmas but it was a while before it ended up in my hands. I wrote a short thank-you note back to her. We corresponded back and forth for a little while during the deployment. Snail mail to wartime Iraq was pretty slow back then so weeks passed between letters.
A young happy soldier on Christmas Eve, Iraq 2005.
I never realized the impact my letters made on that young girl until many years later around 2003. I was stationed in Hawaii and received an email on my Army email account from an unfamiliar name. Imagine my surprise when I found out that “little girl” who was now a 20-something tracked my email address down through someone she knew in the military. She told me how good it made her feel that I took the time to write back to her when I was in the middle of a war. She said it made a tremendous positive impact on her. It was nice to briefly talk by email for a few exchanges.
Soldiers file through the line at their Christmas cookout, Iraq 2005.
War zone Thanksgiving holidays are very special. The military brings in traditional Thanksgiving turkeys, the dining facility cooks and chefs go all out by making pies and a wide variety of side dishes, and the dining facility is dressed up a little with decorations.
The best part about being a leader during those times is the chance to jump behind the counter (or table more often than not) and serve food to the troops. My soldiers always got a kick out of me and my senior non-commissioned officer serving up turkey or burgers, depending on the occasion.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper on 14 Dec 2005 reporting from one of the 3rd Infantry Division’s battalion forward operating bases, Iraq 2005.
We had small gift exchanges during a couple of holiday seasons when I was deployed. During one Christmas a fellow officer gave me one of his personal electronic devices while I gave him a DVD. I remember my wife sending me a few things from the states that I asked her to pick up so I could give them to a few people I worked with in Iraq, to include my Iraqi interpreter.
A Christmas cake, Iraq 2005.
Nowadays with email, chat, messenger, and built-in web-cams on most computers, communication is much easier between combat zones and home. Packages of goodies and gifts still make their way across the world but much quicker than in the past. Most units now have a capability to do a live broadcast from deployed soldiers to their families waiting on the other end of the video-teleconference link at the home station base. But even with this improved capability to reach back and talk to families or friends, some soldiers are going to miss that “first Christmas” with a new spouse or child. Some soldiers will miss consecutive Thanksgiving or Christmas days year after year if they are in a highly deployable unit. A small portion of the deployed unit might have the chance to go home on holiday leave. One thing for sure, the service members terribly miss their families and friends.
3rd Infantry Division soldiers and Iraqi interpreters share Christmas with their coalition forces from Republic of Georgia, Iraq 2005.
With all of these festivities going on the war never stops. Patrols still leave “the wire” to conduct operations. Some troops will have to settle for leftovers on a covered paper plate because they were out on a mission while everyone else filtered through the dining facility. Soldiers still get killed by roadside bombs or small arms fire. A family member may open the door on Christmas morning only to see someone in uniform about to deliver notification of a loved one killed in action.
So, during this holiday season when people are stressing over which gifts to buy and DC politics consume the news cycle, please remember there are service members in harm’s way right now in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and many more very dangerous places. Keep them and their families in your prayers.
A memorial ceremony on a 3rd Infantry Division forward operating base for a soldier killed in action, Iraq 2005.