Upside Down Under: Remember the troops during the holidays...

As a former Army first sergeant, I know all too well what it’s like to be away from home during the holidays and how it affected the morale of my troops.

Fortunately, it only happened to my unit once, but it didn’t take long to realize that despite our stoic military bearing, we were all missing the festivities at home.

There are countless personnel in the U.S. military who are on deployments for several years, some in remote parts of the world, sometimes in nations that either don’t celebrate Christmas at all or they celebrate in a way unfamiliar to Americans.

Our unit was unique in that we were in three places at one time. That in and of itself affected our optimism, because cohesion is so important to a unit’s efficiency. Some of us were at U.S. Central Command on MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, some of us were at CENTCOM forward operating base at Camp Asayliyah in Qatar, and some of us were in Atlanta working at a place called Crawford Communication.

Despite those obstacles, we did our best to have holiday cheer in some way in each of our locations; a small Christmas tree on a desk, singing carols with coworkers, taking photographs by the Christmas tree with elf hats and extra days off were all ways to bring a little cheer and/or humor.

Our unit was also unique in that we were in a joint service environment with the Coalition of Nations. And because those troops were in the United States instead of their home countries, together they put on a Christmas feast with traditional food from their homeland that many of us attended.

All those things were great, but didn’t and in no way could replace Christmas and New Year’s celebrations at home with family. I’ve been reading about some of the traditions on our air force bases here in North Dakota as well as some of the National Guard traditions around the state.

Stringing Christmas lights on aircraft, going out into the community to distribute wreaths or working in a soup kitchen on Christmas or New Year’s Day, office parties, special religious services and visiting shut-in veterans are all part of the holiday spirit on a military reservation and elsewhere.

Leadership tells us that doing these things helps morale at a time when it’s often difficult for troops, especially those who may have young families too far away to be together. Leadership is correct, it does boost morale, but not as much as family would.

Most of us have heard the song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” by Perry Como. That song was written nearly a year after World War II was over, but it was about the war and what many GIs were dealing with during Christmas in 1942-’43 and ’44.

The lyrics, “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams,” was the reality just about every Soldier on the Western Front faced.

Remember Gen. Tom Waverly in “White Christmas?” He was concerned about the morale of his troops at Christmas. OK, it’s Hollywood, but it has some reality to it. Officers as high as general feel that holiday void as well. They’re human too. I observed this first hand with numerous high-level officers during the Christmas/New Year’s season of 2006.

So how can we fix these holiday blues?

A little goodwill goes a long way and can help those of us who may be in a place or situation we don’t want to be in on Christmas and New Year’s Day. Somehow, some way, recognize the holidays, even if it’s something so subtle as to say Merry Christmas to yourself under your breath.

Recognize it, because years later when you are home in front of a warm fireplace beside a huge, well-decorated Christmas tree sipping hot chocolate, you’ll remember that tiny, little gesture that helped you reconcile being away.

It’s easier said than done, but try it. We had a new grandchild in 2006 and I was 2,000 miles away. But it was that small, straggly Christmas tree a co-worker gave me years earlier that eased the despair. That arti-ficial tree was my link to home for the 2006 holiday season.

If you’ve never been in the military, you may not understand some of this. In that case, just know that we were once those little kids walking down the street with our baseball gloves, or spinning around in circles on our figure skates or baking cookies with our grandmother.

Remember the troops, remember the veterans, remember those who didn’t come home from the Western Front. Knowing that keeps morale high enough when we’re away from home during the holidays.