Perspective: In Baghdad, a Christmas Patrol

A soldier from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment looks on during an anti-American demonstration in Baghdad on Christmas

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq -- The sun was just beginning to rise, bringing a dim glow on a cold and clear Christmas morning in Baghdad, but the U.S. Army mission was late.

The Stryker armored vehicles were supposed to have rolled from Forward Operating Base Loyalty 11 minutes ago, at 6:30 a.m., yet soldiers were still milling about outside the green machines, shivering in bulletproof jackets and Kevlar helmets.

"Load up!" bellowed Jeffrey Huggins, battalion sergeant major for the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment.

The men began climbing into the back hatches of the Strykers, but not fast enough for Huggins: "Load up means all of you get in your trucks! It doesn't mean stand there and look at me!"

Some of the soldiers tried to lighten the mood. "Merry Christmas, sir. Merry Christmas," they called out, knowing they could have had it worse, since other platoons began patrols at 5 a.m.

"Get in the truck!" came the rattling reply.

Christmas was another working day for many in the battalion, heading out to cordon off a dangerous section of eastern Baghdad and go house to house searching for insurgents, weapons and bomb-making materials.

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