Letters from the heart — U.S. soldiers in Iraq share thoughts on Christmas

For soldiers stationed in Iraq, Christmas is a work day. Some are decorating their quarters and offices with lights and trees. Others mention gifts from home that have raised their spirits.

The Union asked local soldiers what they would be doing for the holiday. Whether they are maintaining helicopters or driving convoys, their letters share one common theme: All are looking forward to Christmas dinner with their colleagues, and all send holiday greetings to friends and family.

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My name is Sgt. Douglas R. MacDuff from Grass Valley. I've served with the honor guard at Arlington National Cemetery. Later I became a U.S. Marine and served in the Gulf War.

I serve in the California National Guard with the 1114th Transportation Company in western Al Anbar Province, Iraq. We operate in the Haditha corridor. We convey to Baghdad, Fallujah and Hit, among other places.

Convey operations are very dangerous. There are no front lines. Our enemy is very elusive.

Since October and the start of Ramadan, every convoy I've been on has been hit in one form or another. My truck was hit by small arms fire and improvised explosive devices. Each time we leave base, we have to question our odds of survival.

On Nov. 9, one of our soldiers was killed in western Al Anbar Province. His name was SSG Rudy Salcido, now SFC. He was my friend and an outstanding soldier. He will be missed greatly.

We all came here for patriotic reasons and to help the Iraqi people. We still believe in those ideals, but it has become completely clear that we are here for each other. This is why we fight. My fellow soldiers are my brothers.

Right now we are at a very small, forward outpost. Yes, there is a Christmas tree in the tent we call the chow hall.

Christmas is a place in the heart and mind for us, more than a day or an event.

For entertainment, we depend largely on the antics, jokes and conversations with fellow soldiers. Of course, we do have Internet and phones to keep contact with family and friends.

I'd like to send my love and seasons greetings to my wife, Nancy; my son, Douglas; my mother, Hilda; and my brother, Gordon and his family. I love you and miss you very much.

I'd also like to send greetings to friends and neighbors in Nevada County and co-workers at the Penn Valley Post Office. Thank you all for your support.

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My name is PFC Erin Karnes, and I'm the supply clerk for 642nd Engineer Company. I'm stationed at Ft. Drum New York and deployed in Baghdad, Iraq.

My job is to get anything and everything my company and its soldiers need to complete their missions on and off the forward operating base.

The months seem to be flying by since I arrived here in September. I still cannot believe that Christmas is right around the corner. Honestly, I would have forgotten the holiday altogether if it wasn't for the dining facility setting up Christmas trees and decorating the walls with handmade Christmas cards full of notes of encouragement from American children.

It seems as if everyone is trying to make the best of the holidays, even though we are far from the ones we love.

Family members from the rear have put together stockings for each of my company's 130 soldiers. Our company commander insists we wait until Christmas morning to open them, and we all are anxiously waiting to do so.

My NCO (noncommissioned officer) has insisted we decorate our office to add to the festive atmosphere. We're playing Christmas music constantly.

Christmas for me this year will be just another work day in Iraq, with a few changes. The dining facility will have a live band playing Christmas music and a huge holiday dinner.

Our platoon will exchange our gifts for Secret Santa, and I will go to a special service put on by the Puerto Rican National Guard.

I want to send my love and wishes for a Merry Christmas to my grandparents, Don and Linda Karnes, and to my mother, Sherri Karnes.

I want to thank my family and the Friends of Nevada County Military for all their support and the care packages that make this deployment so much easier. Merry Christmas and Happy new year!

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My name is SPC Patrick Mongell of the 289th Quartermaster Company. I'm stationed in Baghdad, Iraq.

I recently got back from R&R in California. I had received five packages while I was gone. Three of them were from my wife's aunt and uncle. They made me gingerbread houses.

Another package was from the men and women of the Friends of Nevada County Military, who have been so great to me and my fellow soldiers from the area, making sure we have what we need.

For us over here, Christmas is not about how many packages you receive or who is going to show up at the base for the holidays. It's about family - and not just the family back home, which is where I know every single soldier wants to be this time of year. I know I do.

It's about the family and brotherhood that has been forged right here in the heat of battle. It's about the man or women next to you.

For me, the most important thing that happened recently was spending some time with my family, including my wife, Erin; my 3-year old son, Jacob; and my wife's parents, Robert and Judy Callan. I also got to see my best friends Justin Kuhn and his wife, Jamie.

I have been deployed on many holidays. I have spent a better portion of my life in the military, and I have to say, this is the most difficult holiday I have had to spend. My wife and I just got married six months ago. This would have been our first Christmas.

As everyone goes about their holiday routines, please don't forget about the men and women overseas. To most of us this is just another day. The less we think about it, the more we can keep our minds on our jobs.

Thank you to Friends of Nevada County Military for their support and also to Dennis Manning and all the men and women at Bub Enterprises.

To my wife Erin and son Jake, I love you both very much and miss you guys. I will see you when I get home.

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My name is Daniel Hilsabeck. I'm a scout stationed with the Shadow 2/37 Platoon in Ramadi, Iraq.

I really don't know what I'm going to be doing for Christmas. Our missions change so much, it's hard to know what I'm doing two days in advance. We will definitely be working. I should get a really good meal in before work.

I know that last time over here, the Army went all out on the Christmas dinner. The same for this Thanksgiving. The chain of command tries pretty hard to make it as much like "home" as possible.

We strung Christmas lights around the building that we are living in. The ladies of The American Legion Auxiliary in Grass Valley have "adopted" my platoon. They sent us some Christmas lights, a tree and some ornaments, which was really cool of them.

Here's a picture we took of our tree. We strung up razor wire and command wire from IEDs that we have found around it. We put bows around some old artillery shells that we painted and got a captured mortar tube and one of our sniper rifles in this picture, also. Kind of funny. Not your ordinary Christmas tree.

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My name is SPC Michael Wilkins. I'm deployed at Contingency Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq, as part of 1-82 Attack Reconnaissance Battalion.

I serve as a Longbow Apache helicopter technician.

My shop and I will be celebrating these holidays like any other day of work except for a big, festive meal at the dinning facility.

We have some Christmas lights set up around the outside and inside of the shop, where we put up a nice little tree. Some of the housing units we live in are decorated with lights and trees.

We have all received packages from supporters back home, with candy, toiletries, DVDs and other gifts that we all really appreciate.

It's always nice to get a thanks in any way possible so we know that people back home believe in us.

We just had a holiday event tonight. Carry Underwood came and performed with her band. Small concerts and USO-sponsered events are sure to continue throughout the deployment.

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To contact Staff Writer Jill Bauerle, e-mail jillb@theunion.com or call 477-4219.