Christmas in Afghanistan

Lt. Col. James Overbye spent Christmas in Afghanistan, and while he missed his family back home in Prince William County, the 22-year Army veteran said he is proud to be helping bring democracy and stability to that war-torn country.
Overbye of Gainesville is assigned as a team leader of a 14-man brigade embedded transition team that deployed to Afghanistan in November.
“In addition to the mentorship we provide, we can also assist the Afghans by providing coalition effects when we get into a fight,” he wrote in an e-mail to the News & Messenger. “These include such things as close air support or medical evacuation. MEDEVAC can be essential to moving wounded Afghan soldiers off the battlefield and to care very quickly.”
The unit is headquartered at Forward Operating Base Apache in Zabul province, near the city of Qalat in southern Afghanistan.
“Our primary mission here is to serve as mentors or advisors to the 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps of the Afghan National Army,” Overbye said. “The FOB is small, with a population of about 85 personnel.”
Overbye said there were two things that made it possible for his soldiers to have a great Christmas on FOB Apache — the tremendous support they received from people here in the United States and the celebrations that the unit conducted on the base itself.
“Regarding the support from back home, through the anysoldier.com program, we received numerous boxes from people back in the States,” he explained. “I was impressed by the amount of support we received from them and the great amount of generosity they demonstrated. Additionally, we received a number of Christmas cards. These, especially the cards sent from school kids and their classes, were quite entertaining and were especially appreciated.”
The unit held a non-denominational Christmas Eve service that was put together by one of its non-commissioned officers, who is a lay minister.
“Following the conclusion of our service, many on the FOB adjourned to our outdoor gazebo, where we enjoyed some hot chocolate, non-alcoholic beer and some cigars,” continued Overbye. “Three of the guys have guitars, and they did their best to play some music for us and keep us entertained.”
Describing Christmas Eve as very still, quiet and dark, Overbye said that without any lights on at the FOB, which is blacked out at night, or from any nearby cities, “it was easy to see many stars. The temperature wasn’t bad, cool, but not what I call cold. Pretty much by 10 p.m., the gathering broke up and people returned to their quarters to sleep.”
At 11:30 a.m. on Christmas Day, the soldiers headed to the chow hall for a special holiday feast.
“It included ham, turkey, stuffing, potatoes and many other side dishes. They even had sparkling white grape juice, as well as egg nog,” wrote Overbye. “The leadership here served the meal to the soldiers, so it was a great opportunity for me to wish everyone on the camp a Merry Christmas as they went through the chow line.”
At 6 p.m., the Americans welcomed the leadership of the Afghan National Army Brigade they mentor to the FOB for a Christmas reception.
“They had invited us to their Eid celebration [Eid ul-Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice normally falls 70 days after the end of Ramadan and celebrated in honor of the prophet Abraham willingness to sacrifice his son as a proof of his loyalty to God], so it is only appropriate that we invite them to our Christmas celebration,” noted Overbye. “Besides, the more we can understand about their customs and traditions, and they about ours, the stronger friendships we will build. The closer our personal relationships become, the better we will be at mentoring them and developing together, a highly trained and competent Afghan National Army, eventually leading to a free, democratic and peaceful Afghanistan.”
Overbye said that during the evening reception, attendees dined on turkey and all the fixings and carols were sung, including two that were performed by Romanian soldiers stationed on the FOB in their native language. The American soldiers led everyone in singing “Silent Night.”
“We also had a drawing for some special gifts for the Afghan National Army soldiers that attended, and every one of them received a special gift bag for just attending the event,” he added. “A great time was had by all attending, including the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, Romanian and U.S. personnel.”
On Dec. 26, the Romanians held their own Christmas celebration and invited both U.S. and Afghan personnel to attend.
“All in all it was a great Christmas,” Overbye said. “Naturally, all of us missed our families and friends tremendously during the celebrations, but you do receive a great sense of satisfaction from being able to share our customs and traditions with others. For our purpose here is singular and unique. It is to enable the Afghans to fight for their freedom and secure their nation. The stronger bonds and relationships we can develop with them, the better they will be able to do this. Through our efforts will eventually come a lasting peace and the Afghan people will be able enjoy security and stability. The thought of achieving that for them is worth the sacrifices we are required to make.”