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http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/No_Let-up_for_Christmas_f/2007/12/24/59498.html
No Let-up for Christmas for U.S. Troops in Iraq
Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas Eve, late afternoon, and U.S. soldiers from 4th Squadron, 2nd
Cavalry Regiment piled into their Stryker armored vehicles for a patrol out
on the streets of Baghdad.
This is the fifth Christmas that U.S. troops have been out in Iraq, and
commanders say the best way to keep morale up is to keep moving.
There are special dinners, packages from home, religious services and
decorations around camp, but no let-up in patrols.
"My personal goal would be to try to go ahead and keep the mission
constant," said Ray Ramsey, who has spent 23 years in the army and his third
Christmas in Iraq, looking after about 100 men as the first sergeant of a
Stryker troop.
"We want to recognize it, go ahead and acknowledge it and wish everybody a
Merry Christmas. But if you make too much of it you give them probably an
opportunity to dwell on where they're not and what they're not having right
now," he said.
Iraq has become far less violent in recent months, and the mood among troops
is visibly lighter than in Christmases past.
So far in December, 17 U.S. servicemembers have died in Iraq, putting it on
course to be the safest month for Americans since the war began, according
to figures on Web site icasualties.org.
Forty U.S. servicemembers died in Iraq in November, compared with 131 in
May.
The 4th Squadron received a flood of goodwill packages this Christmas from
friends and family of a soldier who was killed.
The squadron chaplain, Captain Bryan Smith, was giving out the gifts by
opening up a Christmas Eve "store" where everything is free. He said he had
given out Xbox controllers and portable CD players as well as soft-drinks
and snacks.
Presents from home keep soldiers' spirits up, he said.
"You get the blues around Christmas time," he said.
"When they get boxes from home like that, they say: 'Hey, my family is
thinking about me' and it gives them that touch, just like they're at home
still."
Specialist Corey Jones, 20, found a stuffed reindeer in one of the care
packages and was wearing it perched on top of the soldier's cap on his head.
It's his second Christmas in Baghdad.
"I'd rather be home with my family, but I get used to hanging around
everybody here," he said.
"This is my buddy Moe Moose," he said of the reindeer. "I figured I like to
keep him on my head because it's like a second buddy for Christmas, so now I
can spend the holidays with him."
No Let-up for Christmas for U.S. Troops in Iraq
Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas Eve, late afternoon, and U.S. soldiers from 4th Squadron, 2nd
Cavalry Regiment piled into their Stryker armored vehicles for a patrol out
on the streets of Baghdad.
This is the fifth Christmas that U.S. troops have been out in Iraq, and
commanders say the best way to keep morale up is to keep moving.
There are special dinners, packages from home, religious services and
decorations around camp, but no let-up in patrols.
"My personal goal would be to try to go ahead and keep the mission
constant," said Ray Ramsey, who has spent 23 years in the army and his third
Christmas in Iraq, looking after about 100 men as the first sergeant of a
Stryker troop.
"We want to recognize it, go ahead and acknowledge it and wish everybody a
Merry Christmas. But if you make too much of it you give them probably an
opportunity to dwell on where they're not and what they're not having right
now," he said.
Iraq has become far less violent in recent months, and the mood among troops
is visibly lighter than in Christmases past.
So far in December, 17 U.S. servicemembers have died in Iraq, putting it on
course to be the safest month for Americans since the war began, according
to figures on Web site icasualties.org.
Forty U.S. servicemembers died in Iraq in November, compared with 131 in
May.
The 4th Squadron received a flood of goodwill packages this Christmas from
friends and family of a soldier who was killed.
The squadron chaplain, Captain Bryan Smith, was giving out the gifts by
opening up a Christmas Eve "store" where everything is free. He said he had
given out Xbox controllers and portable CD players as well as soft-drinks
and snacks.
Presents from home keep soldiers' spirits up, he said.
"You get the blues around Christmas time," he said.
"When they get boxes from home like that, they say: 'Hey, my family is
thinking about me' and it gives them that touch, just like they're at home
still."
Specialist Corey Jones, 20, found a stuffed reindeer in one of the care
packages and was wearing it perched on top of the soldier's cap on his head.
It's his second Christmas in Baghdad.
"I'd rather be home with my family, but I get used to hanging around
everybody here," he said.
"This is my buddy Moe Moose," he said of the reindeer. "I figured I like to
keep him on my head because it's like a second buddy for Christmas, so now I
can spend the holidays with him."
