Season's Greetings sent from overseas
Third holiday away from home, local soldier reaches out to friends and family with a special Christmas messageDoneen Durling
News Staff Writer
While spending his third holiday season away from home, Army Specialist Ryan Aker, shown above, of the 212th Combat Support Hospital takes a moment to send warm wishes to his friends and family in North Central Mass.
TEMPLETON — Army Specialist Ryan Aker of the 212th Combat Support Hospital has recently been deployed to Afghanistan, and wanted to do something exceptional for his family here in North Central Massachusetts.
He said, “I was wondering if I could wish my family and friends happy holidays in the paper. This is my third Christmas away from my family and friends. They know how much I love them, but I wanted to do something unique and different for them this year.”
SPC Aker is a medic serving with the 212th Combat Support Hospital and has spent the last two Christmas holidays in Germany.
This year, he added, a deployment to Afghanistan has made him feel even further from home, but has also inspired him to map out a new goal for the future.
“Being a medic in the Army was something I was very excited to do because I like health sciences and being able to provide care for other people is just something I enjoy,” he said.
“I signed up for another five years in the Army and will be going to school to become an LPN so my level of care within the military can be even greater. My overall education goal one day is to be a psychiatric nurse practitioner, but I am taking it one step at a time.”
Being so far away, SPC Aker has had time to think about what he will miss the most from the family holiday table.
“The pies are a definite — and the cookies. I have a sweet tooth for sure. My mom sent me some homemade cookies though, and they arrived safely.”
SPC Aker also noted that while he will also miss seeing snow, his family and their annual holiday traditions are what he longs for most this time of year.
“We have a Christmas tree and I will be celebrating the day by having a good dinner with my fellow soldiers. I really miss that warm feeling you get from being around your family on Christmas Eve, watching the younger ones play and open presents —having some good food and a few drinks with the adults,” he said.
Even from afar, he said reminiscing about a treasured family fruitcake always makes him smile.
“We have a fruitcake that started out as a joke gift a few years after I was born. On Christmas Eve some lucky family member will get it as a gift and will have to hold on to it and gift it to the next unsuspecting person the next year. I am 25, so that fruit cake has been around for some time now. It makes for a good welcoming to any new members of the family,” he continued. “I am sure it is rotten. It is black as coal now, and as hard as stone.”
As it is the third consecutive holiday season he will be stationed outside of the country, SPC Aker said he wanted to find a way to send a special Christmas message to his family and friends from overseas.
“I would like them to know that I am always thinking of them and that not being with them is harder than any military challenge that I have faced,” he said.
“Everyone faces some challenge when they join the military and for me, I had a really strong bond with my family and friends that is still there without a doubt, but it’s so hard not to see them every day. Family is family, there is nothing that can change that. They will always be there for you through thick and thin. I have made friends in the military, but really good friends like the ones I have back home are the same as family, the only difference is that I chose them to be in my life, and they chose me to be in theirs. When holidays that are supposed to be about being with family come around I look through my pictures on Facebook of the parties we had, and it reminds me that I joined the military to help protect family values,” he continued.
“I love my family, I love my friends, I love my country, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure they all stay safe.”
I don't know Ryan, but I think more than a few of us understand how difficult it was to have someone you know away, especially when they are stationed so far from home. It is hard to feel comfortable until you know they have their feet on American soil. I know I was relieved when I knew our Jeff Bennett was home, and Ryan's family has to feel the same way. No doubt time will pass and I hope Ryan's family will let us know when he heads home. The bridges in town do look kind of barren, but we know who can fix that. Bev.
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