U.S. Navy Lt. Jerry Durham. FOB Delhi, Afghanistan. December 2011.

U.S. Navy Lt. Jerry Durham, the chaplain for 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment and native of Odessa, Fla., sings a Christmas song with Marines, sailors and soldiers during a Christmas Eve service here, Dec. 24. This Christmas morning, much like every morning of their seven-month deployment, the Marines and sailors of “America’s Battalion” donned their uniforms, tied their boots and began another workday. They celebrated Christmas with each other throughout the day and briefly shared it with friends and family by phone and internet. Another say complete, far away from their loved ones, they rested for the next day’s work, one day closer to returning home.