Christmas in Uniform - Austin

Christmas in Uniform - Austin Bay writes this excellent piece on the sacrifices our servicepeople make this, and every, Christmas:

The year 2002 ends in crisis, but name a recent year that hasn't? Peace on Earth is a great, empowering hope, but a dim and distant prospect. In our broken world the uneasy quiet that passes for peace anywhere on the planet is usually a lucky concoction, a mix of genuine good will, complex self-interest, mutual economic interest and armed vigilance.

Like it or not, at this point in world history American economic vitality, military vigilance and diplomatic engagement remain central to stabilizing the most threatening geo-political conflicts and promoting peaceful resolution.

There are many people who will say -- with callous accuracy -- that for servicemen and ser-vicewomen hard duty is their job. They signed up to go whenever and wherever they are sent.

That's true. But consider the persistent demands we have made on service members and their families over the last 13 years, the baker's dozen since the end of the Cold War.

Christmas 1989: Operation Just Cause in Panama. Christmas 1990: Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Shield, prelude to Operation Desert Storm. Christmas 1992: Somalia is on the horizon. Christmas 1993: Somalia, again, and new worries about North Korea. Christmas 1994: The pace of air and naval deployments to the Balkans increases. USAF, Marine and Army reservists reinforce regulars in Panama and Guantanamo to work the Cuban migrant camps. Troops deploy to Kuwait, responding to saber-rattling by Saddam. U.S. troops are also assigned to Macedonia.

Christmas 1995: the Bosnia occupation, which was to last a year but still remains an American duty post. In the background, the Navy continues to enforce the U.N. embargo against Iraq and patrol the Persian Gulf. Fall 1998, the Hurricane Mitch relief operation in Central America, with U.S. forces playing a major role in the relief and recovery effort. Spring 1999, the Kosovo War, which by Christmas 1999 becomes occupation duty. Fall 2001, Afghanistan, the duty station in December 2002 for the 82nd Airborne Division. December 2002, uncertainty on the Korean DMZ as the ramp up for action against Saddam continues.

This list, though incomplete, makes the point.

Anyone who has ever worn a uniform and spent the Christmas holidays guarding the motor pool, flying a mission or dodging bullets cannot help but recognize our soldiers' sacrifice and applaud their commitment.

The personal burden is real. At the moment two friends of mine are deployed in Kuwait. Another recently completed a tour in Afghanistan. A couple of Decembers ago I received a letter from a friend who mentioned that her brother-in-law, an Air Force air rescue pilot, was on his way back to the Balkans. She wrote: "My brother-in-law spends probably 70 percent of the year away from home."

That's a commanding example of service -- service above all else; and it is more than the pilot's service, for his family's sacrifice is an integral part of a war -- or peacekeeping -- effort.

To all my friends in the service overseas - and those ni the reserves waiting to get "mobbed" - the best wishes a grateful American can send.

(via Instapundit)