# Kandahar Letters



## traumawolf (2 Jan 2007)

Kandahar Letters
From the Globe and Mail

Original Article Link

Excerpt from page 4

WARRANT OFFICER SEAN CHASE: 'Dec. 25: Just another day of soldiering'

It is the most sacred date on the Christian calendar for many Canadians, the most special holiday of the year. But if you are one of the 2,500 Canadian soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, Dec. 25 will be just another day at the office or in the field. There will be the requisite church services, dinners and the like, but there's not much that will be jolly about this year's Christmas.

It doesn't even snow much in this part of Afghanistan. At least we had snow in Kabul, back in Christmas of 2003, at Camp Julien. Christmas Eve was marked that year by a fresh snowfall, just as it would have been back home in Canada. Impromptu snowball fights broke out around the camp. Inside, some gathered around the DVD player to watch A Christmas Carol -- the Alastair Sim version, of course. Others finished decorating the office, taking a precious few minutes out of a long mission to mark the Yuletide season. Midnight mass was held at 9 p.m. so that those who were on security patrol that night could attend. It was a solemn candlelight service, mixed with traditional carols and appropriate Bible verses.

The night was crisp and the sky dotted with constellations. Looking out at the mud-hut villages that surrounded Camp Julien, it was difficult not to feel that we were back in Bethlehem on that first Christmas night 2,000 years ago. The night's serenity was disrupted not by hosts of angels, but a bomb blast at the United Nations headquarters just up the road. It was a minor affair and fortunately no one was hurt. No casualties on that Christmas. Christmas Day was a low-key affair. A ball-hockey game was played in the afternoon, followed by the traditional men's Christmas dinner, where the officers served the junior ranks.

Somehow, this Christmas will not be as festive. Kandahar does not have Kabul's snow-covered mountains. In the aftermath of a rainstorm, it resembles the filthy trenches of France's First World War "no man's land." For most, there has been one too many ramp ceremonies: 19 fallen comrades who will not see another Christmas.

Christmas will be sentimental for some. It will make soldiers' hearts tighten even more for family and friends. In the end, the only Christmas they want is climbing on board that plane for home.

Personnel file

Age: 37

Years in service: 21

Hometown: Petawawa, Ont.

Family status: Single.

Why did you sign up? "To serve my country."

If you weren't in the Canadian military, what would you like to be doing? "Working for a newspaper."

First thing you will do when you get home? "Have a delayed Christmas



*I did a search and didn't find this already posted, but if it is, my apologies.*


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