I don’t think there is any better place in the world to celebrate the holiday season as in rural America. The gathering of close knit families, family members returning to their home towns from college or work, and the lack of city chaos all combine to make Christmas in the heartland magical. There is just nothing that compares to Christmas in a small town.

When a person makes the decision to serve their country in the military, they give up a large amount of their personal freedoms for the good of others. Military personnel are sent all across the globe to complete whatever mission it is that they are assigned. It could be routine manning of bases and everyday operations, peacekeeping missions abroad, or the waging of war. In most of these cases though, there is a good chance that you will not make it home for the holidays.

This is one of the sacrifices that you make for your country when you sign on the dotted line. I spent several holiday seasons away from my family, two of them in the Republic of Korea. As a military working dog handler, I spent the hours of darkness doing endless foot patrols of small sections of the base to make sure that no intruders entered our installation. I spent more of my time with my dog than with humans, he was my best friend. The climate in Korea is similar to Minnesota, except for the constant flow of wet wind off of the sea. This made for some miserable nights on post.

My most memorable Christmas in the military was during my time in South Korea. I had been assigned to one of the worst posts, it was on main base above a high security installation and included the hill on which the command brass on base lived, along with junior officer’s barracks flanking one edge. On this particularly cold night I went to post at 10 pm, Christmas Eve, and was to be there until around 7 am, Christmas morning. It was on this dreary night that I was touched by a small act of kindness.

At about 3 am, I met a person on the road, bundled heavily in GI issue cold weather gear. This person took a minute in the cold to say “hi” and to tell me that she appreciated my security of the hill on which she lived. She worked in an office and only had to deal with the cold on her short walk home. After this minute, she broke the rules entirely by asking me to step into the officer’s barracks to warm up and have a quick bowl of soup she had made that day. I also broke the rules by accepting her offer.

In the day room, a large room in which to watch TV or socialize, she heated up the soup and we had a quick meal at the table. She also had some coffee and leftover cake from a holiday party, a piece for each of us and one for my dog. My dog, Ero, was not normally very friendly with strangers, as he was intensely protective of me. For this brief moment he was calm, even friendly with the lieutenant.

In the twenty-five or so minutes that we spoke, we covered our jobs, our service history, but most importantly, our families. We wondered what they would be doing, figuring out what time it was back home, and what it would be like to be with them. What would the tree look like? What would they be eating for dinner? Were they happy? She just happened to be from west river, South Dakota, just a stone“s throw from Adrian in comparison to this big world we live in. We were both young in the military and on our first Christmas overseas. It could be a miserable feeling, but that Christmas day, early in the morning, I was cheered up by a little soup and left over cake. I never knew the lieutenants name and I never saw her again, but I understood her feelings of loneliness and longing to be with her family. I only hope that a little company from me brightened her day as much as she did mine.

As we all sit down for Christmas dinner this year in the comforts of our homes and with the ones that we love, let us say a short prayer for those who are in uncomfortable and dangerous places, protecting our basic freedoms, feeling very much alone and only wishing they were safe at home for the holidays. It is of their sacrifice that we are able to worship as we wish and love our families in warm and comfortable homes.

Thank you all.