BAGHDAD — Yousif Akhsho Youmara, who owns an auto-body repair shop in Baghdad, remembers the glorious Christmases of his youth, when family members would stay the night and Muslim and Christian guests would drop by for days.
“Life used to be more cheerful. Not like now,” he recalled.
Still, Christmas this year was better than it was last year, when Youmara was too frightened to decorate or attend church services. On Tuesday, he took his wife, parents and three children to a small neighborhood church. It warmed his heart to find the church full; Youmara and his father listened to the service from outside.
At Patrol Base Warrior Keep in southwest Baghdad, all wish they were home. But at least there won’t be any patrols outside the base for the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division, 1st Battalion, 187th regiment, which arrived in Iraq in October: Lt. Col. RJ Lillibridge of Clarksville, Tenn., didn’t want to risk having to deliver bad news to families on the holiday.
So instead of patrolling, the soldiers were staying on base, playing Halo video game tournaments, waiting in lines for phones and computers to contact home and sleeping in past breakfast or even lunch.
On Monday, a four-piece brass band showed up for a holiday concert. When the music roused the sleeping soldiers, the band moved upstairs to entertain the six-member roof guard and let the others rest.
At Patrol Base Warrior, Staff Sgt. Barry Brennan’s present came on Christmas Eve morning: His wife, Staff Sgt. Josie Brennan, arrived on a Blackhawk helicopter. Their superiors flew her in, saying there was no reason the couple shouldn’t be together when Josie Brennan worked at nearby Camp Mahmudiyah. The Brennans exchanged gifts and ate together.
Their three boys, ages 8, 7 and 2, are living with grandparents. Last year, the family gathered in Colorado, building snowmen and playing with toys on Christmas.
“I just keep saying, ‘They’re OK, they’re OK,’ ” Josie Brennan said. “It’s stuff you don’t want to think about.”
Even those who comfort the loneliest soldiers feel the pain of Christmas missed. Chaplain Eric Light of Kingsport, Tenn., was away from his wife and three children for the first time.
“If I didn’t feel like this is where I needed to be, I think it’d be horrible,” Light said between homilies.
