Greetings from Afghanistan, dear readers. I have been here about two weeks now, and I owe you a smart blog about all the ways Afghanistan is not Iraq. And let me tell you the list grows everyday. I promise it is coming soon. In the meantime, I am happy to report I found one of the most important Marines around these days, the postal chief, Staff Sgt. Jason Dixon, 30, of Springfield, Missouri. Dixon works out of Camp Bastion, which sits on the edge of Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold. His job is to get all the Christmas packages out on time to the 3rd battalion, 8th Marines stationed here and in neighboring Farah province, an area that is about the size of Vermont.  Sounds simple, right? Wrong. These days they receive 24,0000 pounds of mail every few days, much of that is care packages from friends and strangers alike.

I am happy to report that Staff Sgt. Dixon and his colleagues are working around the clock to make sure the deliveries make it by Christmas morning. I found him sorting packages around 8:30 p.m. Dixon, who joined the Marine Corps twelve years ago after he was turned down for a job at the Postal Service, does his job with great pride. I have included a photo of him in front of a portion of one shipment. He sorts them and gets them out to the five bases here. And when a shipment arrives at these barren military posts, you will see the toughest, strongest Marines scurrying to the truck, looking for their packages. It is heartwarming and amusing, indeed.

They have received so much here that they are now making stockings for each Marine to hand out on Christmas Day. So rest assured dear readers, the Marines are feeling the love, one shipment at a time.