With Christmas approaching, I want to tell you about one that sticks out in my mind more than any other.  I know that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but I ask that you put yourself in my place as you read this.  If it helps, think of this taking place on a holiday that you hold in high regard. 

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My most memorable Christmas was during the first year of the Iraq war.  I was a platoon leader, and thus directly responsible for bringing 16 soldiers home alive and uninjured.  We lived in an old parking garage on the very edge of the Green Zone.  The only thing that separated us from the enemy was a cement wall. 

Multiple federal intelligence agencies and military intelligence received information that insurgents were planning a large scale attack on military forces on Christmas Day.  They saw all U.S. military as being Christians fighting a new Crusade to bring religious believes to their land.  Ironically, we are forbidden to preach any religion while in uniform (chaplains are exempt to this when conducting a worship service).

The intelligence reports stated that the attacks would take place at sunrise.  The night shift came through at 3 a.m. to wake us up.  No one spoke in those early morning hours.  The only sounds you could hear were weapons being checked to ensure that theyll function properly, bullets being loaded into magazines (some people say clips), body armor being put on, medics checking first aid bags, radio checks, and people shuffling around.  Once everyone was prepared, we moved to our positions.

The lights inside the Green Zone were turned off.  This reduced the enemys ability to see us.  While moving out and placing my soldiers in their positions, I noticed that the stars were pretty.  Its kind of odd that a thought like that popped into my mind when getting ready for an attack.  No one spoke.  There was no radio chatter.  No one smoked.  No one did anything that could give away their position.  It was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat.  After what seemed like an eternity, I could see the darkness of night giving way to the first shred of sunrise.

Once more of the horizon turned from an inky black to a light pink, the world exploded.  Mortars fell on the base camp.  The distinctive sound of AK-47s could be heard from left and right.  I heard M-4s and our machine guns returning fire.  You could see RPGs flying through the air and hitting walls, one guard tower far down the line to my left (another units fighting position), and flying overhead missing targets completely.  A few grenades even went off, causing the ground to shake.

Just as suddenly as the attacks began, they stopped.  Checking up and down my line, I took accountability of my troops and equipment.  No one was injured or killed.  No equipment was damaged.  I checked in with my company command center.  No one from my company was injured or killed.  Also no equipment was lost or damaged.  The all clear was called and we resumed normal guard forces on the perimeter.  After a quick briefing, I discovered that the only injury was from the guard tower that was hit with an RPG.  The soldier saw it coming and jumped from the tower.  He broke his ankle when he landed, but was otherwise uninjured. 

Even though it was Christmas, we still had convoys to escort.  Route reports had to be checked. I sent my soldiers off to the dining facility to get breakfast while I checked IED reports from overnight.  One of my troops said that hed bring back some food for me.  I took note of possible trouble spots and turned in my mission plan.  We loaded up the vehicles and went out on mission.  We came back and found out that someone had made a mail run.  We had packages and letters from home, including a few Christmas gifts that we got on Christmas Day.  We shared cookies and other food that was in the packages.  All in all, it was a good day.