Holiday Greeting From Team 11, Kosovo

Written By Elizabeth Schirk

They were just starting to decorate our hometowns with bright Christmas colours as we left, and we talked about it on the plane. We felt a little sad to be leaving our families at this special time of the year. We all came together from different parts of the world. Mike, who uses his favourite colour of blue to decorate for Christmas, is from Ft Rucker, AL. Paul, whose favourite Christmas colour is green, arrived from Ft Hood, TX. Tanya, who loves red, is from Wuerzburg, Germany, Elizabeth, who also loves red at Christmas, from Battle Creek, MI. We met at our National Headquarters and became a TEAM. Our Team name is Simply Red in honour of the American Red Cross and the soldiers we are serving, 1st ID, the Big Red One, our family while we are away from home. Our favourite colours this Christmas, along with everyone around us are Red, White and Blue

I wish you could be here with us to see our military in action it never ceases to amaze me they are so very special. If you were here you would see our soldiers out in the early morning frigid weather; in body armour and cold weather gear they are a sea of dark green with one exception. They clasp a large red and white American Red Cross mug in their hands. They get their instructions, then are told they have five minutes to go to the Red Cross office and fill up their mugs, and then they are moving on out for eight hours of duty watching over Camp Bondsteel.

I wish you could be here in the morning when our military file in for their morning coffee. They come in cold and go straight to the coffee, hot cocoa, or tea. They are always focused but sometimes just need a break to get away for a while. They joke with us, share their stories and are on their way back to work with smiles on their faces and a new renewed commitment to task.

I wish you could have been here at our Christmas decorating party. We wanted to decorate and had so many boxes locked away across the parking lot. We passed the word, and a crowd of soldiers turned up to decorate their Red Cross office. They did not ask how we wanted it decorated; they went to work and we had to stand back. They had a purpose. Santa himself could not have had a more willing and able set of elves. They found a box of red hats and put them on. When we ran out of hats they put Christmas stockings on their head. They dangled ornaments from their ears and plunged into the boxes oooing and ahing and just knowing the perfect place for their just found treasure. Our office looks wonderful, decorated by our soldier elves.

I wish you could be here to see our soldiers laughing themselves silly when they realized they have just saluted their Red Cross. Or when they give us a smile and a crisp salute and say, “ Hi Red Cross, thank you for being here with us.”

I wish you could be here when a lonely soldier comes in to watch a movie or just to talk, late at night, or when they get bad news from home and need some TLC or help getting out fast.

I wish you could be with us on one of our trips out to visit the sectors where our soldiers are serving at very lonely duty stations. They are so happy to see us visiting with our bags of goodies and proudly show us around their home away from home. They never let their surroundings get them down; their focus on their mission always comes first.

We never ever wonder what we are doing here; we are here to serve those who serve. They touch our lives every day with their sense of humour, their creativity, their dedication and their selfless service. They do not ask to be away from their loved ones at Christmas; they would prefer not to be. But when the loud call goes out, they silently pack up and go. They are the best; the brightest and certainly the bravest, and we love serving along side each and every one of them. Please keep our military and our ARC colleagues who are serving all over the world in your thoughts and prayers and hope that soon we will all be safely home with our families for Christmas and throughout the year.