- Title: IRAQ: U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ PREPARE FOR THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY
- Date: 20th December 2003
- Summary: (U3) BAQUBA, IRAQ (DECEMBER 20-22, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV TWO U.S. SOLDIERS CARRY A PINE TREE TO PLANT IT AND DECORATE IT AS A CHRISTMAS TREE 0.08 2. SLV U.S. SOLDIERS PUT A PINE TREE IN HOLE DUG IN FRONT OF A CHAPEL 0.16 3. CU U.S. SOLDIER SHOVELS AROUND A TREE 0.22 4. MCU (English) SPC MATT LAWRENCE SAYING: "I had an Iraqi go get it from up north for me, by Mosul, I think." 0.30 5. SLV SOLDIER PUSHES THE TREE TO MAKE IT STRAIGHT 0.36 6. SV U.S. SOLDIERS DECORATE CHRISTMAS TREE IN DINING FACILITY 0.42 7. CU U.S. SOLDIER DECORATES PLASTIC CHRISTMAS TREE 0.45 8. SV TWO U.S. SOLDIERS HOLDING DECORATION 0.51 9. SV U.S. SOLDIER MAKES FINAL TOUCH ON A CHRISTMAS TREE 0.55 10. MCU (English) SENIOR FOOD SERVICE SERGEANT, SSG VALENCIA JONES SAYING: "I think that what the soldiers will enjoy the most about the Christmas meal is prime rib, shrimp, the stuffing, the dressing, the candies and chilled egg nog." 1.07 11. SV SPC JOSHUA HOLDEN CLEANS HIS PROVISIONAL LIVING ROOM IN THE BARRACKS 1.12 12. SLV JOSHUA SWEEPS THE FLOOR 1.18 13. SV JOSHUA AND HIS FRIENDS DECORATE JOSHUA'S ROOM 1.23 14. MCU (English) SPC LOUIS COLON, WITH DECORATION AROUND HIS SHOULDERS, SAYING: "I'm a christmas tree, ha, ha, ha" 1.29 15. CU REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR OF JOSHUA LAUGHING 1.34 16. MCU (English) SPC JOSHUA HOLDEN SAYING: "Probably just get together with my friends, they are like family to me, so, we'll probably get together and have a good time. I'll definitely call the folks, call my fiance, to wish her merry Christmas and all that stuff." 1.46 17. SV JOSHUA WALKING DOWN THE CORRIDOR 1.50 18. SLV SERGEANT JIM NALLEN WRITES A LETTER 1.56 19. CU PICTURES OF JIM AND HIS FIANC ELAINE ON THE WALL ABOVE JIM'S BED 2.01 20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SERGEANT JIM NALLEN SAYING: "She's waiting for me to come home, she misses me a lot, and have a good Christmas and have a good New Year and stuff like this." 2.07 21. CU LETTERS ON THE JIM'S BED 2.12 22. SV JIM PUTS HIS LETTER IN AN ENVELOPE 2.18 23. SLV SPC CISNEROS GUADALUPE SITS IN HER ROOM AND CHECKS HER E-MAIL 2.23 24. MCU (English) SPC CISNEROS GUADALUPE SAYING: "I've received a lot of stuff, a lot of food. They sent me clothes, they sent me a little tree. They've sent me quite a few stuff. They've sent me some cards for Christmas and they e-mail me all the time." 2.40 25. SV TEDDY BEARS DECORATING A MIRROR IN HER ROOM 2.44 26. MCU (English) SPC CISNEROS GUADALUPE SAYING: "What we will do? Probably get a good meal and work all day and, who knows, possibly go on a raid, I don't know. It's not going to be like it would be back home. We are going to be working." 3.04 27. SLV CISNEROS PUTS HER FLACK JACKET ON 3.10 28. SV CISNEROS ENTERS U.S. MILITARY VEHICLE 3.15 29. CU CISNEROS STARTS THE CAR AND DRIVES OFF 3.25 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 4th January 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BAQUBA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA22588BLHXFHTOD0JWMBJH8ZTI
- Story Text: U.S. troops in Iraq prepare for the Christmas
holiday, but for most it will be a working day like any
other.
With a little help from an Iraqi friend and couple
of US dollars, SPC Matt Lawrence managed to get a pine tree
from northern Iraq to liven up his military base in the
city of Baquba for the Christmas season. He planted it in
front of the chapel and next to the path to the dining hall
so that all the soldiers would get a chance to see it.
Lawrence, a native of Alabama, hasn't decorated it yet, but
he says he'll try to find time before Christmas day.
The Christmas meal will be the highlight of the holiday
for most soldiers, and staff are trying to make it as
festive as they can. The woman in charge of the crucial
meal, Staff Sergeant Valencia Jones of Fort Hood, Texas,
has chosen what she thinks the soldiers will like: "Prime
rib, shrimp, the stuffing, the dressing, the candies and
chilled eggnog."
Specialist Joshua Holden is cleaning his small living
space and putting up decorations. "Probably just get
together with my friends," said the Chicago, Illinois
resident. "They they are like family to me, so, we'll
probably get together and have a good time."
Sergeant Jim Nallen receives several letters a week
from his fiance Elaine, whom he left behind in Columbus,
Ohio. They have been together for eighteen months and he
hasn't seen her since August of this year. "She's waiting
for me to come home, she misses me a lot," Nallen says of
what's written in Elaine's letters. "And have a good
Christmas and good New Year."
Specialist Cisneros Guadalupe is one of twelve females
serving with the 649 Military police. She is in touch with
her family in Gonzales, California through e-mails, but
this is the first Christmas she will spend apart from them.
Besides a good meal, she says wistfully, Christmas in Iraq
will be like any other day: "We are going to be working."
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