Families look forward to Christmas for several reasons. Children (and some adults) look for the presents; Christians want to make sure that worship is included in their celebrations. But also the holiday is to have family members, near and far, to gather and renew and reinvigorate the ties of blood and relationships that have waned over the year.
But 2020 will see many who, because of their commitment to the nation, will be unable to “come home for Christmas”. American servicemen and women will be posted in over 170 nations this 25th of December, as duty compels them to spend the holidays far from the warming fires of home.
Many of these places will have soldiers to guard American embassies and consulates in far-flung places as the ground the buildings sit on is considered U. S. soil. Many years ago I saw this first hand, as uniformed and armed soldiers demanded my identification when I needed the services of the consulate in Munich, Germany.
But the history of our great nation has also seen many times our armed services engaged in warfare during the Christmas celebrations. Declared wars are few in our past, but each had men and women bearing arms in the defense of America while their families at home gathered in churches and around Christmas trees.
All this began with our American Revolution. Christmas Day 1776 was the day that George Washington’s troops crossed the Delaware to surprise the British mercenaries, the Hessians, in Trenton, New Jersey. In 1814, our first war sanctioned by Congress, the War of 1812 ended on Christmas Eve with a treaty signed in Ghent, Belgium. But in America, soldiers under the leadership of Andrew Jackson were marching to New Orleans on Christmas Day, to meet the British at the battle on January 8, 1815.
Two Christmases during the Mexican War were spent with armies in the field against our foe. Those were 1846 and 1847, before the peace signed in early1848. For four years soldiers from both North and South spent Christmas under arms and fighting. 1861 through 1864 saw hostilities erupt across our divided nation. General William Tecumseh Sherman, in his march across Georgia, presented the city of Savannah as a Christmas present to the President, Abraham Lincoln.
Our next war the Spanish-American War in1898, was, in the words of one of our statesmen, a “splendid little war” but did not see our troops fighting on Christmas Day. Europe’s Great War, to us World War 1, only saw 1917 with Christmas Day with Americans under arms on the fields of battle in France and Belgium.
World War 2 was the next conflict which had thousands of Americans serving in a “hot” war around the world. These years, 1941-1944, many who wanted to celebrate with families were engaged in life and death struggles against the enemy nations who wanted to defeat us and our way of life.
But declared wars are rare in our history. Undeclared “wars” have seen Christmas Day with many of our armed services toting guns to secure our freedoms. Indian warfare was conducted without reference to holidays during the 1800s, and we sent troops to places in Latin America during the first few years of the 20th century. Included in these “police actions”, as one politician phrased them, were the Korean War, from 1950-52; the Vietnam War from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s. We sent soldiers to the Middle East in the 1990s, and the same decade saw our intervention in the Balkans. Each of these conflicts forced those who served to spend Christmas apart from those they loved.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, American troops have spent the holidays in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan. Our soldiers have been in action in Africa and the Far East during our more recent history.
But some encouraging signs have emerged in the past almost four years of the presidency of Donald Trump. He has pulled our forces home from the Middle East, and lessened our presence in other places. Christmas will be happier in many homes in 2020 because our commitments to military action are now less than they have been in recent times.
What does this trip down memory lane mean to us? Perhaps it will inspire Americans to look more to what the Prince of Peace wants for our country. Perhaps Christians will be more fervent in our desire to disengage enemies abroad, and reflect such in our prayers. To have fewer Christmases without our warriors overseas would be a present worth having and treasuring.
Although America has a past of putting troops in danger, even during the most cherished holidays, it need not be always so. Let us celebrate this year of fewer conflicts with other nations, so we can truly welcome in our hearts and nation the one who brings “peace on earth and goodwill to men”.