Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays To Our Troops, Veterans, and their Families. During this Christmas season we want to thank our veterans and soldiers for their bravery and selfless acts of courage in defending us and preserving our Nation's freedom. Again this year soldiers will observe the holiday season in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are separated from their families, and many more are preparing for deployments. All of us who remember similar Christmas seasons in our own lives sympathize deeply with them. To the right is the cover from the 1968 Christmas card sent home from Vietnam. Forty years ago we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in platoon blocking positions near Nu Ba Den Mt. It was a lonely time for us then as it is for our soldiers today.As we think of our Christmas so long ago away from home these sacrifices are most obvious to us during this season when so many of us are warm, safe and happy in our homes with friends and relatives. Our thoughts and prayers are for the safe return of our soldiers not only during this holiday season but every day throughout the year. We honor their sacrifices, ask God to watch over them and their families, and pray for their safe return.
John,
