Christmas in Iraq

When things are hard, people make do the best they can. For millions of Americans, Christmas is a time of sharing, gifts and family. Our soldiers in Iraq are a long ways from home. Quite literally halfway around the world if you live on the west coast.

Kyle in one of the Daily Kos diaries has a Christmas post:

This year, I know two people who will be away, one family, one friend. My family member is Jimmy, husband to my younger sister and exceptional father to both my nephews. My friend is Justin, a boy who worked for my father’s antique mart in rural North Carolina during high school. He sought me out after enlisting in the Army as an ally to his self-discovery. We’ve continued to keep in touch via email. Knowing they’re at war, I can’t help but put myself in their place and ask how it feels. Are they okay? Do the holidays make it harder for them too? How are they handling it? How do they cope? What is it like for them, in the desert, exploring and defending a foreign world, away from their families on Christmas?

As sullen as my mood can turn when considering those questions, it was nice when, unexpectedly, I received an email from Justin that not only gave me some of those answers but subsequently puts a smile on my face too. He sent me some pictures, from Iraq, and it was a welcome surprise... it was sort of an unexpected present.

This is what the boys of HVAC came up with for their Christmas tree in Iraq. It’s the sawed-off top of a palm tree stuck in the condenser side of a --39 ECU airconditioning unit, complete with colored light bulbs roughly strewn across the front and an angel atop made from an empty propane tank. When life gives you lemons, I guess you make lemonade. Or, to steer from cliché, when life gives you desert palms and broken down air-conditioning units, you make Christmas trees.

He has pictures posted from Iraq including the Christmas tree he describes. Give him a visit so he can pass the word on to his friend that people have seen his pictures.

Posting may be light until Tuesday but I'll be here at my keyboard from time to time viewing the latest developments. There'll be much to talk about next week and in January.