Away From Home this Holiday Season

Happy Holidays to everyone. It’s been a busy couple weeks for us at European Command Public Affairs and in our social media realm.  We’ve been working hard to keep our Web site current and relevant and we'll be ringing in some great changes for the New Year, but we’ll keep those a surprise for now!

I’d like to switch gears for a minute and talk about something that I think is on a lot of families’ hearts and minds around this time. They are thinking about their moms and dads, their brothers and sisters, their sons and daughters, and their loved ones who are deployed and not able to be at home during this holiday season.

This is never an easy time being separated from family. And while it’s always tough on the children, we can’t forget about how hard it can be on the servicemembers as well.

There was a great blog written yesterday by Army Lieutenant Colonel Thiebes. He is the 1-10 Special Forces Group commander and he and his unit have been in Afghanistan for three consecutive Christmases now. He writes about the importance of the mission and how the troops are taken care of during this tough time of separation.  Take a moment to read about these folks and drop them a note.

Imagine being away from your family and friends for months on end and then having to be away from them during one of the most important holiday seasons.  It’s tough being away from the ones you love during the holiday season and serving in a warzone doesn’t help matters.

There was a beautiful poem written in 1987, by Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt, called A Soldiers Silent Night. Click here to listen to a version at Military Members and Veterans Blog site. It says so much more than I ever could.

Thank you to our U.S. servicemembers and our coalition partners, during this holiday season, for giving so greatly to so many. 

And thank you to YOU for following EUCOM and wanting to know more about who we are, what we do, and why we do it. 

Happy Holidays!

Maj. Kristi Beckman
Chief, Social Media
European Command Public Affairs