Far from home and family at this time of year, they often find themselves dreaming of a white Christmas. Most would settle for a silent night in a land where snow doesn't fall but bombs routinely do.

The number of soldiers stationed in Iraq is expected to reach 150,000 by January. But for these two men home for the holidays in Ironton, this war isn't about statistics; it's their day (and night) job.

Answering the call

"It's really difficult sometimes to be so far from home," said 20-year-old Anthony L. Johnson, an Army E-4 Specialist with the 2-7 cav, 1st Calvary Division. "The feeling you have toward the people where you're serving is not really easy to explain. Some people like you and try to help you. Others want to kill you."

Since enlisting in October 2002, Johnson has spent much of his time in Kuwait and Iraq. There his mechanized infantry unit with Bradley fighting vehicles was made the division's quick reaction force, responding to hot areas, conducting raids, searches, patrols and humanitarian missions.

Most recently, Johnson served in Fallujah where he and his unit fought the enemy in door-to-door, street-to-street combat.

"Three-fourths of the people there are actually decent, but it's that small number that make the job difficult," he said.

While in action, Johnson sustained minor injuries for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. During that time, his foster family here in Ironton was unable to contact him.

"We didn't hear from him from October 30 to Thanksgiving of this year," said Kathy Harmon, Johnson's foster mother, "ŠWe didn't know about his injury until he came back. My heart just fell when I found out, even though it was a minor injury."

Now home on a 15-day leave until Dec. 31, Johnson is busy taking it easy with his wife Tiffany Marie Preston and his foster family: Kathy and Charles Harmon and their sons Josh and Devon.

"I was really looking forward to it (being here)," Johnson said. "I just wanted to be home with my family."

He's among the fortunate few. Out of his unit, Johnson said he is only one of four granted the opportunity to come back for the holidays.

"Just having him home is the best Christmas present of all," Kathy Harmon said.

She said she tries to make every day special for him. When Johnson first arrived, welcome banners greeted him and his family's outstretched arms clamored to wrap around him.

Since then, many in the neighborhood have stopped by to wish Johnson well and to spend time with him before he returns to duty.

While Johnson has just come from the heat and fury that is Iraq, U.S. Army Major James Crabtree, 41, is preparing to go there as a public affairs officer with the XVIII Airborne Corps.

His job will have him working out of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, making arrangements for embedded reporters, writing specialized guidelines and providing information to the media, among other things. He is on leave until Jan. 3.

So, is Crabtree nervous about the assignment for which he volunteered?

"Not really," he said. "The last few weeks, they've been keeping me too busy to spend much time thinking about it. I thought I would be more nervousŠbut knowing what I'll be doing helps a lot."

Crabtree's military career began in 1982 when he entered the service as a private after enlisting in the Air Defense Artillery as a Hawk Missile crewmember.

He later joined the ROTC program at Wright State University and was commissioned a second Lieutenant in 1989. As he rose through the ranks, his career took him all over the world, from Germany to Iraq during the Persian Gulf War.

Being stationed in the area previously helps take the pressure off somewhat, but Crabtree knows that even a relatively safe position with the Multi-National Corps Iraq (MNC-I) is not without risk.

"Even in friendly countries, you have to be just as security-conscious," he said.

While he is there, his wife Heidi will be staying in Ironton near Crabtree's parents. Knowing that her husband is comfortable with his mission makes her feel more at ease, but being a military wife is not without its hardships.

The most obvious: Maj. Crabtree will be gone for the next year with a break halfway through the tour. The two plan to spend the time together in Germany where Heidi's mother was born.

"It's not easy," Heidi Crabtree said. "ŠEach week seems like a month. With him being gone for the next year, I'll be staying here at his parents'. I think it will be a little easier, but I'm just glad we have e-mail. I don't know what people did before when wives had to wait for letters from their husbands."

Even though Iraq is understandably dangerous, Heidi Crabtree has a different perspective on the situation.

"Things can happen anywhere," she said. "I could get on a plane today and be killed. It's nerve wracking, but I know more about what he's going to be doing and that helpsŠ.It just means everything to have him here now."

Drawing from experience

Both Heidi and James Crabtree come from military families; Heidi's father and James' father and grandfather all served. For Maj. Crabtree, that background and his own military experiences offered an outlet for creativity,

While stationed at Fort Bliss in 1982, Maj. Crabtree began drawing cartoons. After serving in the Persian Gulf, he started a regular strip called "Buster's Battery," that has been featured in "The Monitor," the "White Sands Ranger" and the Desert Voice, among others.

The name "Buster," came from Buster Keaton, the silent movie star never fazed by disaster and the nickname "Scudbuster," a moniker given to soldiers in charge of Patriot anti-missile fire during the first Gulf war.

"I put a lot of thought into Buster's Battery," he said. "At the time, I was a staff officer with the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, but I took time to create characters based on the personalities I had come across while I was enlisted."

There's Sergeant First-Class Buster Keystone, the NCO everyone depends upon for coolness under pressure, Staff Sgt. "Beaker" Jones, who always seems to be in trouble, Cpt. Victor Havoc, Pvt. Melvin Newbee and others.

Not all content is based on actual events, but the characters, settings and storylines closely mirror those of real military life.

"Š The ideas simply come from things that I either saw happen myself or incidents I had heard about (one of the advantages of being a staff officer at brigade)," he said. "It was only necessary to exaggerate them slightly to make them funny."

Why is comedy so important to Maj. Crabtree?

"I'm happy if I get a laugh or two out of itŠand it helps make their duty overseas a little lighter for awhile," he said.

A map for the future

Maj. Crabtree plans to continue his special brand of comic relief and hopes to someday publish a collection of his work. He has already written two military books and may be teaching history at West Point after his tour in Baghdad ends in a year.

For now, he will keep fighting the good fight, both on land and on paper. Thanks to his wife Heidi, his cartoons are available to the masses at www.bustersbattery.com

Meanwhile, Johnson is under re-enlistment negotiations with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. The move would enable him to remain closer to home, which is good news to foster mom Kathy who dotes on Johnson just as she does her biological sons.

"We're just so proud of him," she said. "Anthony (Johnson) just has the biggest heart in the world and is the best child a mother could ask for."

The solemn young man said he would miss his family, but in a way he is looking forward to returning to duty and the friends he left behind.

Both Johnson's and Crabtree's families know firsthand that sacrifice. Both are prepared to go on e-mailing, sending care packages and doing whatever they can to bridge the gap of thousands of miles that separate them from their brave loved ones.

While Johnson has been awarded the Combat Infantry badge, ribbons and medals for his service, he said he is driven by a different kind of reward.

"Sometimes you regret your decision to go in, but then you accomplish something that makes you really proud to be serving," he said.

Beth Davis is a staff reporter for The Ironton Tribune. She can be reached at 532-1445 ext. 14.