BAGHDAD, Iraq – Outside the tiny mess hall, a handwritten sign proclaims in a spidery scrawl: “Knight’s Den lunch feast. Try the eggnog tonight. (The rest is just army chow.) Merry Christmas.”
In this overlooked corner of the Green Zone on Saturday, troops from Michigan’s National Guard celebrated Christmas Eve. From daybreak, the soldiers toiled to decorate the Spartan hall, open to the 146 ‘Knights’ who are spending the holidays in Iraq.
At home are newborn children and grandchildren, and families gathering to celebrate. In Michigan, it’s snowing. But here in Baghdad, it’s sunny.
Sgt. 1st Class Tim Arnold has prepared surprise Christmas gifts for the 40 troops in his platoon. He has bought a knife engraved with the platoon insignia for each guardsman under his command. Unknown to Arnold, they, too, have gone shopping and gotten him an antique bayonet.
“It’s the hardest time of the year for the guys,” Arnold said. “In the last 24 hours, people are starting to realize it’s Christmas, and it’s going to be the new year soon.”
As the year draws to a close, Arnold’s troops are thinking about their return home. Some will meet children they have never seen. Others will find empty houses and custody battles.
Arnold’s first child was a girl born in May, with complications. Six months ago, she weighed a mere 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Since then, she has she gained more than 12 pounds, growing healthier with each passing day.
At least eight other Knights also have had “little ones,” said Arnold, a 32-year-old with a construction business at home in Manistee, Mich.
The Knights of the HHC/1-126 Armored Battalion arrived in Baghdad, the capital, for the first time 10 months ago and their work duties have included clearing Baghdad streets of roadside bombs. They are not scheduled to leave Iraq until March.
Not seeing snow has made Arnold “a little bit broken-hearted,” he said. But he adds: “I think we’ll be all right.”
It’s harder on their families, he explained. “My wife probably won’t have a great Christmas. I know my mother won’t.”
Soldiers mill around in the sunshine at the PX with last-minute gifts while “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” is piped across the plaza. With limited shopping on the base, some have gotten creative. One soldier has burned a disc for his wife, using the song selections to express his love.
A couple of British soldiers stop by to say hello, both wearing combat fatigues and Santa hats. They wave cheerfully as they drive by.
Outside the barracks, soldiers are playing with remote controlled toy tanks as Staff Sgt. Dale Krueger, 55, returns from the Burger King near the U.S. Embassy’s palace complex. A Vietnam War veteran, he’s carrying his ‘holiday meal’ in his helmet.
Krueger, who’s nicknamed Freddie by the younger men, became a grandfather for the seventh time on Monday. His new granddaughter was his Christmas present, he said. What got to him 34 years ago in Vietnam is what gets to him today in Iraq – the orphaned children who come to beg from the soldiers. “It’s hard,” he said simply.
The Green Zone is home to thousands of U.S. troops but each part of it has its own character, said Lt. Micah Bell. In one section, Iraqis live in a handful of high-rise buildings. At the palatial embassy complex, “It’s the people rebuilding the country,” he said. “Union 3,” another base, “they are all the war fighters.”
This corner is home to the Knights, “the citizen-soldiers,” Bell said.
But not for that much longer.
“The end is in sight,” said the lieutenant, smiling as he drank his eggnog.
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