So here it is two days before Christmas, but something feels different this year. The feeling about it just being different this year has been nagging on the outside of my conciousness for the past few weeks, and up until a few days ago I hadn't the slightest idea of what was causing it.
And then, out of the clear blue nowhere, I figured it out. I sat back one night and reflected on what I had been thinking about over the past few weeks, which were the Christmases past, and I suddenly realized why this year just felt different.
It was because of WHICH Christmases past I had been remembering.
I was remembering Christmas 1979, which was my first Christmas away from my family and my home. That year found me in the Air Force and stationed at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. I was a Sergeant assigned to the Customs and Border Clearance Section of the 8th Security Police Squadron, and since I was working a Monday through Friday, 0700 to 1600 hours, weekends and holidays off REMF job (that's Rear Echelon Mother F*cker for you civilian types), I was off on Christmas Day. Me and the other dorm rats of Building 1423 threw a Christmas party, and I gotta say that it wasn't half bad. We were all intent on doing three things: having fun, getting drunk, and trying to forget that we were 12,000 miles away from home and family.
I was remembering Christmas of 1982 when I was a Staff Sergeant and a brand-new Military Training Instructor assigned to the 3711th Basic Military Training Squadron at Lackland AFB, Texas. I had just picked up my very first flight of basic trainees on December 17th, all of whom would be spending their very first Christmas in the Air Force away from their homes and families. I went through four Christmases like that, from 1982 to 1986.
I was remembering Christmas of 1989 when I was once again in South Korea, assigned to the 6168th Combat Support Squadron, Security Police Flight, Taegu Air Base. I was a Technical Sergeant assigned as the Flight Chief of a Law Enforcement Flight of eleven troops. No REMF job this time around, though - Christmas Eve found me working the swing shift, getting off duty at 2200 hours (ten PM) and then heading up to the NCO Club to have a few drinks, play some darts, and try to keep my mind off of the fact that I was once again on the other side of the world and away from my family during the holiday season.
I was remembering Christmas of 1990, the Christmas I was supposed to be spending with my family after being in Korea the year before, but Saddam Hussein screwed that up for me. That year found me assigned to the 1st Security Police Squadron, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia and deployed to Dhahran Air Base, Saudi Arabia in support of Operation DESERT SHIELD. This was a particularly hard one for me because it was the second year in a row I missed, and we were in a Muslim country which meant that we couldn't even decorate for the holidays. But that all banded us together somehow, that and the fact that we all knew the shooting was going to start pretty damned soon. I was off Christmas Day, but since we were in a dry country in a "bare base" environment, there really wasn't that much to do.
And then I would always find myself thinking about my son, who is currently in the Air Force and is a Technical Sergeant of Security Police, now deployed to Iraq for the second time away from his wife and family.
I find myself remembering what it was like to be a serviceman overseas away from family and friends and loved ones during this most special of holiday seasons, and I inevitably think of the men and women in uniform today, in that very same situation, far away from home, wishing they were all somewhere else.
And that's what's been bothering me this year; that's what has made this year different. I can't help but think about all of our servicemen and women who are far away from home and family, and I wish it wasn't so.
I also feel like I should be over there with them. Lonnie, Bulldog, I know you two understand, as will anyone else who's ever served.
So in the hustle and bustle of the next 48 hours, when you're busy unwrapping presents, drinking egg nogg, singing carols and celebrating with family and friends, please take a minute out of your day and remember the men and women in uniform who are protecting us and enabling us to celebrate, and who can't celebrate as we can because of where they are. Drink a toast to them and say a quick prayer of godspeed and safe journeys home, because they surely deserve it.
To my brothers and sisters in uniform around the globe - Merry Christmas, and God bless you all.
IHC
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