For years, the military has been sending recordings of deployed soldiers back home.
These short messages, usually aired around holidays, often feature deployed service members on a base or ship sending well wishes to their family and friends.
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service recently released this year’s holiday season messages. Two service members with links to Columbus are among those featured in the videos.
On Nov. 19, Tech Sgt. Malcolm Bentley, with the help of Tech Sgt. Daryn Murphy, recorded a video message to friends and family. Deployed from Columbus Air Force Base, Bentley delivered his message from Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, about 23 miles from the Iraq border.
His video went out to his family — “his wife and two beautiful kids back home.”
“I can’t wait to see y’all,” Bentley said.
The base, which is on an elevated ground above the surrounding desert plains, is also known as “The Rock.”
Cpt. Teresa Allen, with the U.S. Army, is also among those who sent out a message for the holiday season. The Brigade Personnel officer, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, is from Columbus. Her greeting was recorded Dec. 12 at Storck Barracks/Illesheim Kaserne in Illesheim, Germany.
The 1st Air Cavalry Brigade has soldiers serving across Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. The operation, which began in 2014, is part of ongoing efforts in response to Russian operations in Ukraine. It is funded under the European Deterrence Initiative.
“I want to wish my family a happy holidays,” Allen said in the message recorded by Sgt. Jason Greaves, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.
DVIDS is part of Defense Media Activity, the Department of Defense’s direct line for news and information to the U.S. forces deployed worldwide. It broadcasts radio and television to forces in 177 counties and 279 Navy ships with DoD-specific programming.
Greetings are sent out for the holiday season, Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, July 4, Valentine’s Day and Veterans Day, according to Amanda Saunders, director of media relations for Encompass Digital Media, Inc., which works with DVIDS.
According to the U.S. Air Force website, the holiday greetings program began in 1984. While the number of releases increases each year, the program’s goals remain the same. The first goal is to improve the morale of servicemembers stationed overseas and their family members, the website states. Another goal is to show the American public the sacrifices that military people make by serving without their families.
Other Mississippi communities represented in the recordings include Biloxi, Jackson, Carriere, Long Beach, Collins, Flowood and Magee.
To look at the holiday season 2021 greetings online, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/holiday/holiday-season/2021 .
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