A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.  Especially to those of you who find yourselves in sweltering jungles, scorching deserts or wind swept mountains or anywhere else on the land or upon the seas.  Here is hoping that next year is spent not at the front but in the embrace of hearth, home and family.

U.S. Army Soldiers from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Aviation Regiment, U.S. Marine Corps embedded trainers, Afghan National Police, and Afghan National Army Soldiers search a village in Ala Say Valley, Afghanistan, for suspected Taliban members Aug. 11, 2007. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman) (Released)

U.S. Army Spc. Jason Curtis provides security for members of a medical civil action project in Parun, Afghanistan, on June 28, 2007. Curtis is assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment. DoD photo by Sgt. Brandon Aird, U.S. Army. (Released)

U.S. Navy Builder 2nd Class Chad Smith, right, of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Three and Philippine marine Pfc. Marlon Seytes, from the 5th Marine Battalion, work together to build a new school in the village of Taglibi on Jolo Island, Philippines , Feb. 20, 2007, during exercise Balikatan 2007. The annual bilateral exercise is designed to improve interoperability between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States military during humanitarian, medical and engineering missions. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael Larson) (Released)

U.S. Army Soldiers from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division setup a fence for a veterinarian assistance operation in Yusufiya, Iraq, Oct. 23, 2007. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Luke Thornberry ) (Released)

The Military Sealift Command (MSC) Modular Cargo Delivery System Ship SS CAPE GIRARDEAU (T-AK 2039) underway on the Pacific Ocean as a USN HH-60H Seahawk, Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four (HS-4), Black Knights, returns to pick up another load of supplies during a Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP).

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Hall, a vehicle maintainer with the 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron's vehicle management flight, adjusts the air compressor on the braking system of a 10-ton truck at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Sept. 17, 2007. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Garcia) (Released)

U.S. Marines from Detachment A, Marine Special Operations Command, attached to Joint Special Operations Task Force - Philippines observe a group of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) soldiers do a jungle movement they learned as part of a subject matt er expert exchange in Sanga Sanga, Philippines, May 19, 2007. Subject matter expert exchanges are regularly conducted to ensure the U.S. and Philippines can work together in crisis and non-crisis circumstances while maintaining the U.S. -Philippines security partnership. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Troy Latham) (Released)

    We pause to keep you in our thoughts and prayers during these most joyus days, and to remember that we have the freedom to do so thanks to your sacrifices.  To borrow someone else's words:

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf." -- George Orwell.

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