FROM THE ARCHIVES: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THOSE ON THE FRONTLINES:

G.I. Joes May Be Under Tree, but Not Around It (RALPH BLUMENTHAL, 12/25/03, NY Times)

When Specialist Nichola Gauthier of the First Cavalry Division in Fort Hood goes to war in March, who will watch her babies, Genevieve, now 2, and the 7-month-old twins, Gretchen and Isabella?

Not their fathers. One has been a soldier in Iraq since April. The other was in the Army and now lives in Florida. Not her sister, Laura. She has been on duty in Iraq since April. The specialist's boyfriend cannot. He is leaving for Iraq in January.

So Specialist Gauthier, 27, Army mechanic and single mother from Brasher Falls, N.Y., is spending her Christmas arranging for her sister's husband � a rare civilian in the family � to be her interim nanny.

Little Genevieve already senses something is up, her mother said. "She knows when I put on a green uniform, and she throws a tantrum." Still, Specialist Gauthier (pronounced GAH-tee-ay) said: "I feel strongly it's something I have to do. I've got my mind set on going. I just pray to God I'm going to come back to them."

Torn between country and children. It may sound like a particularly wrenching dilemma, a sort of Nichola's Choice, but it is just an extreme example of the countless everyday sacrifices being made by Americans in and out of uniform as the United States counts down a first year of war in Iraq.

The all-volunteer force, with the burden they take on themselves, is one of the true marvels of the Republic and genuinely humbling.

(Originally posted: 12/25/03)

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 24, 2006 12:00 AM