Christmas. Family. Presents.
Robert Frost and Norman Rockwell joined at the convivial hip.
Dec. 25 means warm memories and wonderful moments to most all Americans. The glitz and glitter bring out the kid in all of us, even as hundreds of millions around the world celebrate the day as the birth of the Christian Savior.
To some Americans, Dec. 25 has meant even more. No fancy meals. No “It’s a Wonderful Life.” No bad neckties. For the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, Christmas is really just another day.
For some, it was the day they died.
Staff Sgt. Thomas W. Christensen of Ellsworth, Wis., was 42, serving with the 652nd Engineer Battalion of the U.S. Army Reserve, when his unit’s living area at Baqouba, Iraq, came under attack. He died on Dec. 25, 2003.
When he wasn’t serving in the Reserve, he was a carpenter. His survivors included his parents.
On Dec. 25, 2005, Spec. Anthony O. Cardinal of Muskegon, Mich., was patrolling in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device — that’s an IED as we all too well know — exploded by his vehicle. In the weeks before the specialist died, he was able to listen by satellite phone as his wife gave birth. Cardinal was 20.
That same Christmas Day, Spec. Sergio Gudino of Pomona, Calif., was in an M1A1 tank. A tank. An IED detonated as the 22-year-old specialist worked on what we think of as a holiday. His work that day was combat, and the bomb killed him. Survivors included his wife and newborn son.
Seven U.S. service members died on Dec. 25, 2006. IEDs killed all but one of them. They were Capt. Hayes Clayton, Sgt. 1st Class Dexter E. Wheelous, Pvt. 1st Class Eric R. Wilkus, Sgt. Jason C. Denfrund, Pvt. 1st Class Andrew H. Nelson, Spec. Aaron L. Nelson and Sgt. Jae S. Moon. They were from Georgia, New York, Texas. In other words, they were from everywhere.
And not all troops overseas die in combat. But they’re dead nonetheless.
Thousands of miles from home. Probably would be alive if they hadn’t been in some godforsaken foreign land unable to live the life they thought might have been laid out for them. But they’re still dead. On Dec. 25, 2007, Sgt. Peter C. Neesley of Michigan died “of an undetermined cause in a non-combat environment.” He was 28. The Associated Press doesn’t list any biographical information about the sergeant. That seems at once odd, since AP chronicles the death of each troop, and also perhaps telling. The lack of detail provided by the military indicates that Neesley may have taken his own life.
Sadly, he wouldn’t be the first service member to commit suicide; tragically, he won’t be the last.
Sgt. Bryan J. Tutten, 33, of Florida died on that same day at Balad, Iraq.
Another IED.
On Dec. 25, 2008, Maj. John P. Pryor, a doctor, died when a mortar round hit near his living quarters. He was an active duty officer with a medical unit out of New York. Pryor served as director of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital’s trauma program. He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.
His survivors included his wife and their three children.
Want to go through the list of our troops who have died on Christmas Day while serving in Afghanistan?
Didn’t think so.
Enjoy the holiday. Hold family and friends near. Give and receive. Remember, though, that for tens of thousands of fellow Americans, Christmas will be a work day. They’ll be wearing a shirt with their name on it, but instead of carrying a wrench, punching buttons on a QR code reader or speaking statically while wearing a fast food drive-through headset, they’ll be carrying a rifle or driving a tank or getting ready to perform surgery on a comrade.
And more than one of them might die.
(The AP Iraq Casualty Database provided information about specific troops mentioned in this commentary.)
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Rick Fahr is publisher of the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway. His e-mail is rick.fahr@thecabin.net.