This will be 15th consecutive Christmas thousands of our troops spend in harm's way, on the cruel battlefields of the Middle East, instead of at home with their loved ones.
Tragically, those cruel battlefields continue to exact the ultimate sacrifice from our servicemen as six American airmen were killed near Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in the deadliest attack on our troops in months -- just days before Christmas.
This will also be seventh or eighth Christmas that I try to convey what I am sure is America's heartfelt appreciation for their sacrifices and America's profound and over-and-over-repeated hope that next Christmas, "when they listen to or sing the hauntingly beautiful words from 'I'll be home for Christmas,' it will finally not be 'only in [their] dreams.'"
As in past years, Jim Garamone of the DOD News, Defense Media Activity, tells us where our deployed troops will be during the holidays.
Garamone says that in addition to the around 9,800 Americans deployed to Afghanistan, this Christmas we have an additional 3,500 Americans deployed to Iraq and Syria to assist in the fight against ISIL.
"All told, there will be roughly 220,000 American service members serving overseas this holiday season," Garamone says, operating in more than 100 countries, on every continent.
Thousands of them will be spending Christmas aboard Navy ships and ballistic missile submarines.
On the largest U.S. aircraft carrier alone -- the USS Harry S. Truman, headed for operations in the Arabian Gulf -- there are more than 5,000 personnel. The amphibious ready group centered around the USS Kearsarge, operating in the Arabian Gulf, has another 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard.
Official U.S. Navy file photo of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman
Garamone continues:
In the Pacific, there are roughly 50,000 American service members based in Japan. Another 28,500 troops are based on the Korean Peninsula.
About 500 service members will be celebrating the holiday season in Australia and more celebrating in Singapore.
Africa has one large base -- Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti -- and there are around 4,000 service members assigned there. Roughly another 1,000 service members are deployed elsewhere on the continent.
More than 64,000 U.S. service members are stationed across Europe -- from Rota, Spain, to the Baltic Republics. The highest number is in Germany, followed by Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain. There are another 3,000 based in Turkey, which is a NATO ally with most of its territory in Asia.
Finally, there will be roughly 5,500 service members deployed to Central and South America and "U.S. airmen may also be operating to resupply scientists in Antarctica during the holidays."
Garamone points out that there will be thousands of other U.S. service members away from home during the holidays: Those manning our space, missile and air defenses; those defending our newest frontier, cyberspace, and those performing the oldest and most traditional military duties: protecting the American people.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter best expressed such sentiments in his holiday message to the troops videotaped aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, praising their work to create an environment of peace "where others can have happy and safe holidays, live their lives and dream their dreams..." and for "doing the noblest thing you can possibly do with your life, which is protect our people and make a better world for our children."
Watch the message below.
As for this veteran now safe in retirement thanks to you, I can only repeat my humble, heartfelt words from Christmases past:
"To those troops for who the only bright lights and glow they may see this time of the year are muzzle flashes or the eerie light through their night-vision devices instead of enjoying the bright Christmas lights and the glow of a cozy fire with their loved ones back home, on this 15th Christmas at war, as we once again run out of adequate words to express our gratitude and our best wishes to our heroes, may we be forgiven once again for borrowing from that classic Christmas Song and for paraphrasing a little bit:
And so we're offering this simple phrase, To our heroes from Camp Leatherneck to Bagram Field,And now from the sands of Iraq to the skies over Syria, Although it's been said many times, many ways,Merry Christmas to you
Finally, what a more touching image to represent the melancholy of a military Christmas away from home than of soldiers praying during a candlelight Christmas prayer service in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, fourteen Christmases ago... (Lead photo: DOD)