A Holiday for Heroes

                It’s November, and already lights are going up and Christmas decorations are coming to life in every store. The warm feeling of family and love washes over the world around this time of year.  Christmas is just around the corner, and everyone knows it is a time for family and making memories with our loved ones, but what about the soldiers fighting for our freedom overseas? They are oceans away from their families and the traditions they grew up with. How do they survive the holidays so far away, and do they still even celebrate?

                Even though troops are thousands of miles from home, Christmas still finds its way to them.  KTVN reports that troops in Iraq are getting into the Christmas spirit despite being away from home.  Their article “Troops Celebrate Christmas Early Overseas” explains, “American soldiers at a military outpost in Iraq sang Christmas carols, lit up the tree, even met with family members over a video teleconference.” The soldiers are not with their families, but they do find comfort in the company that they have, which are the men and women fighting alongside them. Benjamin Harmon, and infantryman with Company A,

 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, discusses this in the article, “Soldiers Celebrate Christmas in Afghanistan” Harmon states , “You have your whole platoon which is basically all your best friends. You don’t do much, you just work and sleep, but you’ve got your best friends to the right and left of you the whole time during the holidays, so that makes it pretty easy.”  The article also describes some of the small things soldiers do to celebrate the holiday, like decorating their rooms, putting up paper trees, and getting to eat a Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas Eve dinner is very special for the troops. Samuel Bell, a cook for the 702nd Brigade Support Battalion, points out, “Most of these things can be described as comfort foods, or they’re things that (the soldiers have) grown up with, so they bring back feelings of nostalgia, (They are) things that make them feel like they’re at home … and hopefully take them away out of current circumstances for a few minutes.” Forgetting their current predicament and remembering the season helps lift the spirits of the troops.

     Soldiers do as much as they can to celebrate and have a holly jolly Christmas while away. They decorate, sing Christmas carols, and put up paper trees, but sometimes there are limits to how much they can do; however, there is something more we can do Between writing letters or sending stockings filled with goodies, there are hundreds of locally or community sponsored fundraisers and food drives for overseas soldiers. A few local organizations in Alabama are Treat the Troops and Soldiers' Angels of Alabama. If you are having trouble finding somewhere to donate your local news will usually advertise close by drop offs around this time of year. The American Red Cross, a reliable and well known charitable organization, expresses, "Once a year, we get the joy of delivering holiday greetings to veterans, military families and active-duty service members at hospitals and installations around the world." They encourage people to sign cards and send them in so they can be delivered to soldiers. They also accept donations to help military families.