In South Korea, my command helped sponsor a small Catholic orphanage. My sailors and marines could get pretty sad around Christmas time, but if I could get them involved with the annual orphanage Christmas party everything just seemed so much better.
We would go out there with an individual gift for all 95 children. Spend the morning making repairs to their facility, have a hot dog cookout, and then have a party in the main hall. The children would put on a wonderful dance and singing show and then open their presents.
If I could get my young men and women out there one time, they were hooked. And somehow, Christmas was real!!
My wife and I agree that these moments were among the very best that we had during our 2 1/2 years there.