Brother brings season’s greetings to deployed sister

Published Dec. 25, 2010
By Senior Airman Melissa B. White
451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- She had been telling her coworkers unceasingly about it for two weeks now, but who could blame her? After all, her big brother was coming to visit her for Christmas ... in Afghanistan!

Then Dec. 23 rolled around and he was supposed to arrive around 1 p.m., but the flight got canceled - oh, the anticipation. Maybe he'll get in tomorrow.

She went back to her room, changed into her pajamas and started to drift off to sleep, preparing to face Christmas Eve after a good night's rest. Then, from her door there arose such a clatter, she sprung from her bed to see what was the matter, as Clement Clarke Moore would have put it.

"Someone came to my room and knocked on my door and said there was a medical emergency and that I needed to come into work right away," said Senior Airman Emilie Johnston, 451st Air Expeditionary Wing medical technician. "So I quickly got changed out of my pajamas and went right over to the clinic. As soon as I opened the door, I saw my brother sitting there recording my reaction on his iPhone.

"I said, 'Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?' Then I started laughing; I wasn't expecting to see him until a day later," she continued.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Johnston, who is a mass communications specialist assigned to the Regional Command North Public Affairs Office, traveled from his current deployed location of Camp Marmal, Mazar-e-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan to visit Airman Johnston at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan.

"I work in a German office for RC-North telling the story and documenting the International Security Assistance Force mission, and I'm thankful that my leadership was kind enough to let me come here to spend Christmas with my sister," said Petty Officer Johnston, who is on his third deployment. "Our parents are very happy about this because they hate that two of their children are in Afghanistan, but they love that we're actually able to spend the holiday together."

The two siblings, who were born and raised in Wallingford, Vt., now both live in Colorado when they aren't deployed. Airman Johnston is assigned to the 10th Medical Operations Squadron at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Her brother lives barely two hours up the road in Fort Collins, Colo., and reports to F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., as a reservist.

Petty Officer Johnston moved to Colorado after he separated from active duty in the Navy in 2007. Airman Johnston later made her way to Colorado for her first assignment in August 2008 after graduating technical training. Deciding it was also time for a change, their parents followed suit in July 2009 and now also live in Colorado Springs. Living so close to family has its advantages, though.

"This is my first Christmas away from home," said Airman Johnston, who is on her first deployment. "I've always spent Christmas at home with my family, whether it was in Vermont or in Colorado."

A typical Christmas for the Johnston family, which includes the parents and their six children, is spent in the company of their immediate family. They usually go to a Christmas Eve church service and each person is also allowed to open up one gift the night before. The next morning, they open the rest of their presents and then prepare for a Christmas meal, complete with turkey and pumpkin pie.

However, this year is different for the two deployed Johnstons as there is nothing traditional about their family spending Christmas in a desert.

"Family and snow," said Petty Officer Johnston, the eldest sibling, of what he would miss most this year ... but the year also brought about an opportunity. "I am really thankful, though, for this good bonding moment in our lives as siblings. How many siblings can say they spent Christmas together in Afghanistan? We'll always be able to look back at this moment."

Petty Officer Johnston arrived to Afghanistan in the beginning of November for a seven-month deployment; Airman Johnston arrived in the beginning of July for a six-month deployment and will be returning home in the next couple of days. She said this moment with her brother was the perfect way to end her deployment.

"I'm very glad he's here to spend this moment with me because I wasn't able to go to him; I'm on call 24/7 as a medic," said Airman Johnston. "He brought Christmas to me. The season just seemed kind of absent before and it seemed like Christmas would be just another day in Afghanistan. Thankfully, it's not, because I get to spend it with him."

Sibling surprise