Do They Know It's Christmas?
On the 23rd of December we flew from Kuwait to Iraq to begin our tour of duty in Iraq. We flew on an Air Force transport plane, a four engine C-130 aircraft. There were around fifty soldiers in all, but I only knew four of them- the rest were from other units returning to Iraq from their mid-tour leave.
As we flew into Iraq I listened to my iPOD to a re-make of the BandAid song "Do they know it's Christmastime?", remade by the Barenaked Ladies. I had to laugh to myself, thinking about me, a Catholic guy from New York City, flying into Iraq to help re-build the economy of a Muslim nation, while listening to a group called the "Barenaked Ladies" singing a song asking if "they" knew it was Christmas or not! The more I thought about the words, the interesting I thought it was to me. I played the song over and over a couple of times and it seemed to me very appropriate for the occasion.
Ignoring the obvious religious implications of the question... we're trying to give the Iraqis the gift of freedom... do they know what that gift means? Do they want it? Will they help fight for it? The song keeps playing over and over again in my head...
It's Christmastime
There's no need to be afraid
Yeah, right! The plane takes off from Kuwait and gains altitude before crossing over into Iraq. I start psyching myself up to spend a year in Iraq as part of a huge American and international effort to make the lives of the Iraqis better...
At Christmastime, we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime
I'm flying in with my Commander (a full Colonel) his Command Sergeant Major, a First Sergeant and a Sergeant First Class. They are all Massachusetts National Guardsman in their forties and all have families in Massachusetts. I think to myself that I hope they all make it back home.
But say a prayer
Pray for the other ones
At Christmastime it's hard, but when you're having fuuuunnnn
I hate to admit it but I am having fun as pilot drops into a bank that makes my stomache go up into my throat, as we try to avoid any small arms fire by dropping quickly from 20,000 feet down to the airfield in Iraq. I look out my little window at Iraq below...
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging
chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you
We're flying in to replace the men and women of the Army's 1st Infantry Division: the Big Red One. They are spread out through the Sunni Triangle and have been here for nearly a year and lost a lot of soldiers. Soon they'll be going back to their snow covered bases in Germany...but not in time for Christmas with their families...
And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
I'm replacing a Captain named "Cotton" and think to myself that only in the Army could Captain "Rice" replace Captain "Cotton" and have responsibility for Agriculture. Someone in the Army must have assumed that our forebearers had something to do with crops and that skill must still be recessed in my genes... My name is probably my only qualification as a New York City resident to take over Agriculture...as I look out at the desert landscape...
Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?
The Big Red One has nearly finished its year in Iraq and we are their replacements just as they replaced the 4th Infantry Division one year earlier. We are a National Guard division, around ten years older than the average age of the soldiers we're relieving...but oddly, they are the veterans and we, the older soldiers, are the rookies. I'm glad that we can relieve these soldiers so that they can go home to their families....
(Here's to you) raise a glass for everyone
(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?
Feed the world
We land in Iraq and the insurgents hit us the first night with mortars. I think sarcastically to myself "Don't they know it's Christmastime?"
They say a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. We've just taken the first step.
As we flew into Iraq I listened to my iPOD to a re-make of the BandAid song "Do they know it's Christmastime?", remade by the Barenaked Ladies. I had to laugh to myself, thinking about me, a Catholic guy from New York City, flying into Iraq to help re-build the economy of a Muslim nation, while listening to a group called the "Barenaked Ladies" singing a song asking if "they" knew it was Christmas or not! The more I thought about the words, the interesting I thought it was to me. I played the song over and over a couple of times and it seemed to me very appropriate for the occasion.
Ignoring the obvious religious implications of the question... we're trying to give the Iraqis the gift of freedom... do they know what that gift means? Do they want it? Will they help fight for it? The song keeps playing over and over again in my head...
It's Christmastime
There's no need to be afraid
Yeah, right! The plane takes off from Kuwait and gains altitude before crossing over into Iraq. I start psyching myself up to spend a year in Iraq as part of a huge American and international effort to make the lives of the Iraqis better...
At Christmastime, we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime
I'm flying in with my Commander (a full Colonel) his Command Sergeant Major, a First Sergeant and a Sergeant First Class. They are all Massachusetts National Guardsman in their forties and all have families in Massachusetts. I think to myself that I hope they all make it back home.
But say a prayer
Pray for the other ones
At Christmastime it's hard, but when you're having fuuuunnnn
I hate to admit it but I am having fun as pilot drops into a bank that makes my stomache go up into my throat, as we try to avoid any small arms fire by dropping quickly from 20,000 feet down to the airfield in Iraq. I look out my little window at Iraq below...
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging
chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you
We're flying in to replace the men and women of the Army's 1st Infantry Division: the Big Red One. They are spread out through the Sunni Triangle and have been here for nearly a year and lost a lot of soldiers. Soon they'll be going back to their snow covered bases in Germany...but not in time for Christmas with their families...
And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
I'm replacing a Captain named "Cotton" and think to myself that only in the Army could Captain "Rice" replace Captain "Cotton" and have responsibility for Agriculture. Someone in the Army must have assumed that our forebearers had something to do with crops and that skill must still be recessed in my genes... My name is probably my only qualification as a New York City resident to take over Agriculture...as I look out at the desert landscape...
Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?
The Big Red One has nearly finished its year in Iraq and we are their replacements just as they replaced the 4th Infantry Division one year earlier. We are a National Guard division, around ten years older than the average age of the soldiers we're relieving...but oddly, they are the veterans and we, the older soldiers, are the rookies. I'm glad that we can relieve these soldiers so that they can go home to their families....
(Here's to you) raise a glass for everyone
(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?
Feed the world
We land in Iraq and the insurgents hit us the first night with mortars. I think sarcastically to myself "Don't they know it's Christmastime?"
They say a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. We've just taken the first step.
posted by Dan at 6:26 PM
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