Christmas Trees Bring Touch Of Holiday Spirit To Deployed Troops
(December 22, 2010) |
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| Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Iraq (12/18/2010) – A fresh, aromatic
pine tree stands tall, its pine needles draped with garlands
and Christmas ornaments, greeting soldiers entering the
225th Brigade Support Battalion Headquarters building at
Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Iraq with holiday festivity
and cheer. |
A real Christmas tree, complete with holiday
decorations, brought holiday cheer to soldiers of 225th BSB,
2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division,
deployed to the Diyala province of northern Iraq.
“The Christmas tree is a nice morale booster for soldiers,”
said Staff Sgt. Carlo Principio, a generator mechanic
assigned to Company B, 225th BSB, 2nd AAB, 25th Inf. Div.
“It's just amazing to see a real Christmas tree out here,”
said Principio, a 24 year-old native of Jacksonville, Fla.,
serving his fourth deployment to Iraq, the third such during
the holiday season. “It's one of the last things you expect
to see over in the desert; the pine smell of it alone
reminds me of home.” |
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Spc. Peter Hinz, motor transport operator, Company A, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, fixes a snowflake on top of the battalion Christmas tree in the headquarters building at Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Iraq, Dec. 15,
2010. |
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The battalion Family Readiness Groups mailed the fresh pine
tree, 6,235 miles from a tree nursery in Michigan to the
soldiers at FOB Warhorse deployed to U.S. Division-North in
northern Iraq.
Tracey Murray, Family Readiness Group advisor and spouse to
the deployed battalion commander, helped organize the effort
to send Christmas trees to the troops of the brigade support
battalion.
“One of our FRG leaders, Sherri De Silva, was here during
the last deployment and remembered how they sent live
Christmas trees to the troops downrange,” said Tracey, who
works with the brigade's FRG leaders in Hawaii. “We decided
to do it again to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to our
soldiers.”
To carry on the holiday tradition, the 225th BSB FRG's
contacted a tree nursery in McMillan, Mich., to begin the
process of bringing the Christmas spirit to the troops.
The journey to bring the tree, and ten of its brothers to
the desert was no simple feat, Tracey said, due to the fact
the current deployment scattered the battalion across two
provinces in Iraq, an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania.
“The coordination was a little trickier for this
deployment,” she explained. “The brigade is responsible for
a much larger area, and the BSB soldiers are literally
everywhere.
“After we coordinated with Rear Detachment and our deployed
soldiers, each of our FRG companies in Hawaii ‘adopted' a
FOB and sent a tree to the battalion point of contact there,
regardless if it was ‘their' soldier,” Tracey said.
Each company FRG leader also sent individual boxes of lights
and decorations to their deployed company commanders and
adopted bases, providing the trees Christmas flair for the
holidays.
“While it is hard for our families to be without their
soldier during the holidays, we know it must be even harder
for the soldiers downrange,” Tracey said. “We hope this
brings a little bit of Christmas cheer to every one of our
soldiers.”
Lt. Col. Scott Murray, battalion commander, 225th BSB, 2nd
AAB, 25th Inf. Div., received the trees arriving at FOB
Warhorse.
Murray, whose wife heads the battalion FRG, said he is
touched to see the amazing effort of the families and
friends of the battalion taking care of the soldiers during
the holidays.
“It's my view every soldier who is away from home always
thinks about home,” Murray said. “Anything you can do that
would remind them of that and what it feels like during
Christmas is important because it lets them know people back
home are thinking about them.”
Murray said seeing holiday decorations arriving from home is
also a great morale booster for the troops, because it
changes the mood and atmosphere around the workplace.
“A few days ago, I noticed one of my company commanders
carrying a large duffel bag,” he said. “The flap was open
and you could just make out the Christmas tree decorations
inside. He was going to the flight line here on Warhorse and
flying out to visit multiple remote sites. It's great to see
the soldiers' spirits lifted in such a way by our families
back home.”
Although far from home, soldiers of the 225th BSB received
care and love from friends and family, little reminders
provided by the unit's FRGs. These little reminders served
to bring a taste of home to the deployed soldiers during the
holiday season. |
Article and photo by Army SSgt. Ricardo Branch
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
Copyright 2010 | |
Provided
through DVIDS
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