Soldiers in Iraq mark another Christmas
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BAGHDAD — Throughout Iraq, U.S. military personnel were served special Christmas Eve meals Wednesday, and many gathered for church services. Personnel accustomed to barking orders did their best on traditional hymns and Christmas songs.
At the Al Asad base, Capt. Brian O’Shea said, “Christmas Mass will remind us what we all ultimately hope for: peace.”
At midnight Mass, Catholic chaplain Paul Shaughnessy said, “I know for a lot of you, it’s the second or third Christmas here in Iraq. It’s probably appropriate we’re in the Holy Land, or close to it anyhow.”
In the Holy Land, Christians celebrated the West Bank city of Bethlehem’s merriest Christmas in eight years, with hotels booked solid, Manger Square bustling with families and Israeli and Palestinian forces cooperating to make things run smoothly.
Outside the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, good-natured crowds of pilgrims and townspeople gathered for the midnight Catholic Mass that is the holiday’s highlight.
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