Standing Watch at the Holidays: Why Christmas and New Year’s Mean Even More to Our Veterans and Troops
Every December, neighborhoods glow with twinkling lights, families gather around tables heavy with food, and children tear open presents while “Auld Lang Syne” waits in the wings for midnight. For most Americans, Christmas and New Year’s are the warmest, most joy-filled days of the year.
For thousands of U.S. service members and their brothers- and sisters-in-arms still on watch around the world, these are the quietest—and often the hardest—days of the year.
While we track Santa on NORAD’s website with our kids, a young Airman in South Korea stands midnight watch on the flight line, making sure that very tracker keeps working. While we toast the New Year with friends, a Soldier in the Middle East pulls guard in 40-degree desert night, scanning the horizon so the rest of us never have to. While we sleep under quilts on Christmas Eve, a Sailor on a destroyer in the South China Sea stands four-on, four-off, keeping the sea lanes open that deliver the gifts under our trees.
They miss the smell of Mom’s cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. They miss their spouse’s midnight kiss when the ball drops. They miss tucking their own children into bed and reading “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” one more time “just because.”
Yet they stand the watch anyway.
That selfless choice is the very essence of the oath they took: to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic—so that the rest of us can enjoy the blessings of liberty in safety. The Christmas lights shine brighter because someone is willing to spend the holiday under colder, darker skies. The New Year arrives peacefully because young men and women in uniform are ready to meet whatever the old year tries to carry forward.
At WilCoVets.org, we never forget that freedom isn’t free—and it’s never on holiday.
This season, while you’re surrounded by family and warmth, please take a moment to remember those who are not.
- Send a care package through one of our ongoing drives.
- Drop a note to a deployed troop via a “Letters from Home” program.
- Attend one of the Veteran Christmas or New Year’s events created specifically for local veterans and their families who know exactly what that empty chair at the table feels like.
Because every light on every tree, every firework on New Year’s Eve, and every moment of peace we enjoy is a direct reflection of their sacrifice.
To every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Guardian, and Coast Guardsman standing watch this holiday season—whether in a bunker, on a ship, at a remote outpost, or simply far from home:
Thank you.
We see you.
We honor you.
And because of you, the holidays—and every day—are possible.
From all of us at WilCoVets:
Merry Christmas.
Happy New Year.
And welcome home—whenever that day finally comes.
WilCoVets.org – Serving Those Who Served
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- Written by: Johnathon Farrell
- Category: News
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