To those not home for the holidaysSacrifices December 19,
2007 2:36:53 PM
I remember Christmases when my Dad would address dozens of cards, and I would carefully stick on each one the Christmas seals of Father Flanagan’s Boys Town. The stickers pictured a tousled young man trudging through heavy snow, carrying a younger boy on his back. The caption was the now-famous line, “He ain’t heavy — he’s my brother.”
At woundedwarriorproject.org, you can see a similarly moving image, one of a soldier carrying a wounded comrade. Nearby is the organization’s important reminder: “THE GREATEST CASUALTY IS BEING FORGOTTEN.”
It isn’t that most of us forget about the men and women who serve in the military; it’s worse than that. We probably never knew and didn’t care enough to find out who’s serving around the world, in places we never think about, cannot find on a map, and often can’t pronounce.
An estimated 160,000 US troops were serving in Iraq earlier this year; about 19,500 more serve throughout the Middle East, most currently in Afghanistan.
Also separated from their loved ones this holiday season are 29,086 US soldiers in South Korea; 40,045 in Japan; 75,603 in Germany; and 20,780 in Italy and the United Kingdom.
Another 393 Americans serve with UN peacekeepers around the globe (We rank 31st among participating UN nations. Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India lead in peacekeeping efforts, providing approximately 10,000 soldiers each.) All those young people won’t be home for the holidays, either.
Among soldiers who are home, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that 200,000 veterans go homeless in America on any given night. Think about that when you curl up for a nice warm nap after your holiday feast.
The icasualties.org Web site shows that this year 883 US families will sit down to their first winter holiday with one empty seat where their deceased soldier would have sat.
And, if you really want to get your heart broken, go to operationchristmas.org to see what some people are doing to ensure that the young children of fallen soldiers have something to smile about this season.
Against this backdrop the annual brouhaha over whether we need manger scenes and/or menorahs on government properties was again present in several states. In Massachusetts, the governor backed away, following protest, from an outright ban on “welcome home” signs on Bay State highway overpasses. In Washington, the national Christmas tree was officially lighted.
No word yet, however, on when the nightmare in Iraq might end, so that real heroes can come home to their loved ones.
War is hell. Christmas in wartime is no piece of cake, either. What we need from government is a little more “Peace on Earth” and a little less “Deck the Halls.”
Meanwhile, the rest of us should remember those warriors who make the sacrifices that come with military service.
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