Christmas, the Sulu Archipelago

...and elsewhere.

The Southern Philippines:

More than 1,500 residents of Parang town in Sulu received free medical and dental care from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Southern Command, the United States military from the Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines (JSOTF-P) and local volunteers at Parang’s first-ever Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) and humanitarian assistance mission recently.

Col. James Linder, commander of JSOTF-P, explains why the US military is in the Southern Philippines: "Our goals here are to provide capacity building to the AFP, together conduct activities in conflicted areas and provide a secure environment so that development and social progress can occur. With our civilian agency and non-government organization partners, we want to plant the seeds of economic growth and provide people with hope and alternatives to the violence and terrorism plaguing much of their region.

"Throughout this country, with the cooperation of the government of the Republic of the Philippines, we will continue to advise, assist and share information with our AFP counterparts to strengthen their hand in the global war on terrorism."

Collectively, the AFP and US military medics treated 1,550 medical and dental patients, and delivered free prescription drugs and preventive care supplies including dental care items, vitamins and education kits.

More than $15,000 worth of medical and humanitarian assistance supplies were distributed to Parang citizens.

ZAMBOANGA CITY — "Magandang umaga po (Good morning)!" is a simple greeting for many Filipino soldiers, but one not often spoken by a 23-year-old petite, blonde lady US military sergeant.

Speaking in Tagalog during a gift-giving mission to the remote village of San Jose Gusu, Sergeant Kimberly Lasser drew a local Muslim crowd and became an instant celebrity among the natives.

The humanitarian mission was held Wednesday in coordination with the US Joint Special Operation Task Force-Philippines (JSOPTF-P), Mindanao Electronic Institute College (MEIN) and the Kiwanis International.

"Ikinagagalak ko pong mapaglingkuran kayo (I am glad to be of service to you)," Lasser said as she welcomed residents at the grounds of the Mein College. Some 250 indigent families benefited from the program.

Lasser, a certified teacher and fondly called Kim by friends, said she learned to speak Tagalog in the US through her Filipino-American friends who encouraged her to take Tagalog lessons for six months.

Get your news from television or most major American newspapers and you will never hear these stories. You will only hear these stories:

A new study by the Media Research Center reviewing every Iraq story on the evening news programs of ABC, CBS and NBC from January through September found 61% of the stories were negative or pessimistic while only 15% were positive or optimistic — a 4-to-1 negative ratio.

The MRC found that 79 stories focused primarily on allegations of wrongdoing by American forces in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib rehashes, while only eight focused on the heroism of American soldiers or their good works.

Though the Sulu archipelago is one of the many fronts of the war on terror, the US mission is there is humanitarian relief, one of several such relatively unknown deployments of the past year. From the tsunami late last year to the earthquake this year, from Darfur to the US Gulf Coast, from hospitals in Iraq to a parliament in Afghanistan, from Kosovo to Korea, from Germany to Japan, in the year 2005 the US military accomplished more than any other group or nation in the history of the world.

All while under fire from armed enemy, attacked or ignored by the press, and declared "defeated" by some politicians back home.

The past two years we've rounded up lists of web logs of deployed GIs and encouraged readers to visit and say thanks during the holiday weeks. This year - as I expected - the task has grown too large to attempt. But you know where they are - because we've been pointing them out through the year, every day has been Christmas in that regard, and we'll continue to do so in the year ahead.

So if you have a moment, scroll down the page a bit, find a deployed blogger or one who's come home, and tell them thanks.

That's not why they do it, but I don't think they'll mind.

Tending Distant Fires

Far from hearth and home, watching
Cold alone but not alone
On distant shore and only wanting
Safe return and little more

What tales we'll tell
When that time comes
When tales can be told

When things grim
Seem far away
When other fires go cold

Some distant sunset, vision fading
Memories remain
And tired eyes gaze 'pon folded flags
While distant drums beat their refrain

Saluting fallen friends whose names
And youth will never fade
Here's to those on other shores,
for them live well, the price is paid

- Greyhawk,
-- Iraq, December 2004