Christmas in Greece

In the mid 1980s, I was a naval aircrewman stationed near Athens. It was the tail end of a period when the Greeks tolerated an American military presence there. That tolerance was rapidly dissipating when I arrived, although you could always say that many more supported us or at least weren't bothered by us than those who didn't. It was just that those who didn't were quite vehement about it. Local terrorists were killing Americans. One Air Force fellow stationed there was killed on his last day of duty--they set a bomb near his apartment. A bomb exploded on a Saturday night in a Glyfada bar frequented by U.S. service people, killing several and wounding dozens. A bomb killed a military attache on one of our buses.

The Navy had us wear flak jackets when riding in the crew van. It was a bit silly, really, because when we were off duty, we had our own cars, which had "Armed Forces Greece" in English prominently displayed on the license plates. And we had military haircuts. If the U.S. Navy and the Air Force were really concerned about the safety of their personnel, they would have allowed us to blend in more with the local population. I bought a Citroen from a German diplomat so at least the car would blend in. It was a great car.

You would think that we'd be terrified to walk on the street, but, as it happened, these events were infrequent enough that we really didn't think about the terrorism much. The Athens area was such a fun place to be, and Christmas was a festive time there. The shopping areas were all decorated, the bakers made wonderful holiday breads, and people really celebrated, not just at Christmas, but during all the religious holidays.

One year just before Christmas, it actually snowed. Snow was extremely rare there, at least it was on the coast in Attica. The locals were ecstatic. They could be so much like little kids at these times. They made little snowmen, put them on top of their cars, and drove around the neighborhood, practically jumping out of their cars to wave to each other.

Another year at Christmas in Greece, my friends and I celebrated at my apartment. The married guys had their wives there. Everyone was in such great spirits. Because we were stationed together, we were all so close. It was a true family, really.