Being in Iraq on Valentine’s Day is a little odd.  First off, the holiday is only celebrated in Western societies, and the cards are quite an interesting cultural artifact (says the researcher in me).   When one of our soldiers wished an Iraqi “Happy Valentine’s Day” this morning, he looked at her with a strange expression (they look at us with that face often).  What was even odder was a group of us American soldiers trying to explain the occasion to the Iraqi.   I started to think about why we say it to almost perfect strangers, since it was started to recognize only those dearest to us.  Then I wondered why we encourage young kids to sign cards and give them to everyone else in their class — analyzing stuff too much again.  After I saw how much our soldiers appreciated the cards, I had my answer.

Despite all that analyzing, I was happy to see four boxes of valentines arrive into the 314th over the past few days.  The first one came from MAJ Lincoln’s daughter back in the United States.  She and others in her school created more than 150 cards and sent them to us.  Later today, MAJ Lincoln and a couple other volunteers from the unit will line up at the mess tent and give everyone who works in our “office” one of those cards.  We have a mix of Americans, other Westerners, and Iraqis…so we will almost certainly see some mixed reactions.

Two other boxes came from kid — one from a YMCA in Prattville, AL, and other from a 4H club in Holt, MI.  They included beautiful handmade cards and little packets of candy.  Thank you to all of you that spent all that time making us soldiers feel special.

The final box came from Del Tull and his team of Family Readiness Group volunteers.   Each envelope had the hand-printed name of 314th PAOC soldiers…and was delivered early this morning (the folks who work at the Embassy will get their cards this afternoon when we see them).  Inside each envelope was a cute card (with a picture of a puppy) and a heart-shaped lollipop. 

When you are far from home, and you miss your loved ones, something like that makes them seem closer…but it also reminds you of the distance.   I thought I would ask some of the soldiers what they were thinking today.  Here’s a sampling:

SPC Autumn Hope said she has mixed emotions about the holiday.  It was three years ago on Valentine’s Day that she was “dumped” by someone she was seeing at the time.  She decided leave school early that day and then found an ad online looking for broadcast journalists to join the Army Reserve.  In a twist of fate, she met her current “valentine” in the military and is very happy that things turned out the way they did. 

SGT Jeremy Fowler said he finds it “mildly depressing” to be 8,000 miles and 8 time zones away from his valentine.  To ensure she and his mom got flowers on time, he had them delivered two days early on February 12 (he said having them delivered yesterday on Friday the 13th just didn’t seem wise).  He also sent his girlfriend a jar full of 365 “I Love You” messages. 

MAJ James Lincoln said he is thankful for his wonderful family this Valentine’s Day — wife Brenda, son Kyle, and daughers Michaela and Jillian. 

SGT Bryan Tull said soldiers always appreciate getting stuff from home (and others), and getting it on holidays makes even more special.  However, he wanted folks to know he still hasn’t received his box from home, and hopes everyone is looking for it.

SGT Kellena Leech said “thank you” to all the kids who sent us cards, but that she would rather focus on another holiday (she began humming “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” at that point).

SPC Justin Wright said he called his girlfriend at 11:30 pm and told her how much he loves her…but he also added that for other people who don’t have a valentine, the day is merely a reminder they are single (so be nice to single people today).

SFC Poulten gave a shout to all the lovely ladies back in New York City!

As for me, I am glad that our soldiers are happy today because of the love they receive from friends and family back home.  I’m also glad that we got to share all those  cultural artifacts with the folks we work with here in Baghdad. 

Thanks to all of you for making this day special.