Christmas in Kandahar

Today is the date that gives the name to my blog. To me December 25th is not significant in and of itself as a holiday but rather represents something more significant about military deployments. It symbolizes what makes military servicemen and servicewomen different from their civilian counterparts, namely sacrifice of the very comforts and freedoms they signed up to defend. On some level the ability for American citizens to have elaborate holidays and spend time with family members rests upon someone giving up that right. I am not talking about giving up one holiday to work/be away from family because after all, people cannot always travel to be with family for the holidays and many people actually have to work. I mean being willing to spend long periods of time away from home in order to do a job, a dangerous one at that. Deployment of course has been a fact in the military, particularly the Navy since their inception. However until the past eight year, deployment to a war zone for an extended tour relatively rare. Now a substantial portion of the population will have experienced six months to 12 months away from home in Southwest Asia. How that will shape our country in long run remains to be seen.
It cannot be overlooked that the vast majority of fighting forces here in Kandahar have customs based on Judeo-Christian beliefs. As such, Christmas is a significant holiday for most of the fighting forces. That is not so for the TCNs here who easily match the military forces in number. That makes for an intersting contrast for a few days here.
The American Forces make every attempt to bring a festive atmosphere to the base for Christmas. The amount of Christmas packages alone is staggering. Entire C5 aircraft are dedicated to bringing in mail. The post office has had to resort to asking for volunteers to help unload the pallets. Recently 34 pallets (capable of carrying 10,000 lbs each) arrived with mail for the holidays. Of note, service members are not just receiving a gift here and there from immediate family members. A reservist co-worker of mine received 19 packages from co-workers from his civilian job. In fact all of the US commands here receive an abundance of mail and packages from concerned/greatful citizens on a regular basis. Candy, snacks, and toiletries are the most common contents of these packages. In the middle of the night last night, stockings filled with just such items were dropped off in front of the barracks rooms of members of my regiment in a move organized by concerned citizens back home. Christmas meals are being served throughout the day at the DFACs. Each NATO member country seems to have reserved a DFAC for several hours for their troops to have a ahared Christmas dinner. As is apparently the case with every aspect of this war, no expense was spared.
For me being away from home for the holidays this year will no doubt make me appreciate future holidays when I can spend time with my family. When I do that I also know that my thoughts will be with those who cannot enjoy that luxury as I hope yours are.
Merry Christmas from Kandahar.