A Soldier from Lubbock is Interviewed in Iraq

GIs Continue Missions on Christmas

Associated Press December 25, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Pfc. John Alonzo knew Christmas would be his toughest time in Iraq. "Ever since I volunteered, I haven't been looking forward to it," said the 27-year-old, from Lubbock, Texas. "My son wants to know why I can't be home for the holidays. He doesn't understand that I can't just quit."

Before dawn on Sunday, Alonzo and the rest of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment rolled through muddy, unpaved streets in a volatile corner of east Baghdad, hunting house-to-house for Shiite militia leaders and bomb-making materials.

Although they did not know it, a roadside bomb in the same neighborhood had killed three U.S. Soldiers the day before; a fourth died in an explosion in Diyala province east of the Iraqi capital.

As the sun came up over the city, a Soldier sang "Silver Bells" while others smashed windows in a tall residential apartment building to get a better look at the street below. "It's Christmastime in the city," he crooned. ... Read more on Military.com