Santa Claus Is Coming To Iraq
And,
as the song says "Afghanistan, and Kosovo, and Bosnia and back"
As well he should, since so many of our troops will be there
instead of where they'd rather be, I'm sure - home with their loved
ones. Several of the troops my family has adopted will actually
be going home just in time for Christmas. I can imagine the joy in
their households, as just about every one of them has small children at
home who find it hard to understand why Daddy (or Mama in some cases)
is not home. There are a lot more, though, who will be spending another Christmas far from home. It is those Warriors I made this video for. Captain
Paul Krumenacker and his Marines were in Iraq for Christmas 2007, and
in an attempt to lighten things up and boost morale, they decorated
their Abrams tank with lights and ornaments they'd received in care
packages from supporters. Well, they didn't have a tree...you're not
going to find many trees in the desert, and especially not Christmas
trees in a Muslim country. He sent pictures of the tank to his
supporters, and I asked his permission to use them to make a video
Christmas card for our Warriors for Christmas '08. LCpl
Chris Baird, another of our adopted Marines, sent some pictures of
himself and his fellow Marines with Santa hats and such they had
received from their supporters, and I got his permission, as well, to
include them in the video. Once I finished the project, I e-mailed a
copy to each of the Marines who had provided pictures and waited for
their approval before going forward with it. The reaction, thumbs
up, was unanimous, and the rest, as they say, is history.