PHOTOS: Christmas with the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
After flying in a Blackhawk helicopter, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Derrick Nunley, 27, from De Soto, Kan., celebrates Christmas by wearing a Santa Claus hat and a beard made out of a shredded T-shirt at Camp Victory, the U.S. military headquarters on the western edge of Baghdad. (Maya Alleruzzo / Associated Press)
U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan make a toast during Christmas Day lunch at Camp Phoenix in Kabul. (Musadeq Sadeq / Associated Press)
Soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force hug and kiss a U.S. soldier dressed as Santa Claus after receiving Christmas gifts at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Musadeq Sadeq / Associated Press)
A U.S. soldier sits on Santa Claus’ sleigh as an effigy of the man himself sits nearby at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Musadeq Sadeq / Associated Press)
A U.S. soldier dressed as Santa Claus takes a Christmas Day photo with soldiers for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Musadeq Sadeq / Associated Press)
A U.S. soldier sticks his head out of a Christmas wreath before the beginning of a Christmas Eve candlelight service at Camp Victory, the main U.S. military compound in Baghdad. (Ali Al-Saadi / AFP / Getty Images)
U.S. soldiers take part in a Christmas Eve candlelight service at Saddam Hussein’s former Al Faw Palace, which is now within the confines of Camp Victory in Baghdad. This is the seventh Christmas that American troops are celebrating Christmas in Iraq following the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. (Maya Alleruzzo / Associated Press)