‘You always wish you could do more:’ Chaplain brings cheer to Marines in Helmand province during holiday season

Photo By Cpl. Michael Augusto | Lt. Cmdr. Michael Tomlinson, the chaplain with 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), baptizes a Marine aboard Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, May 16. Chaplain Tomlinson says baptisms are a high point for him on deployments.  

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

12.23.2011

Story by Lance Cpl. Katherine Solano 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan - For many Marines, missing holidays due to deployments is often a fact of life. It can be prepared and planned for, but when these festive occasions arrive, and the Marine is continents away, there is not much that makes the separation any easier.

As a chaplain, Lt. Cmdr. Michael Tomlinson knows, and sees, first-hand what a Marine deployed over the holidays goes through. He has been side-by-side with service members on four different tours over the last 10 years.

“The hardest time is over the holidays, because you miss your family and friends, and you miss the good food,” Tomlinson, the 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) chaplain said, with a slight smile.

While he acknowledges that he cannot provide the comfort of a good home-cooked holiday meal, Tomlinson says there are other ways to lift a Marine’s spirit during the winter months.

“I will be going [multiple places] on Christmas to provide worship services,” he began. “For some faith groups, communion is very important and it is something special we can do for Marines.”

Maintaining communication with loved ones back home is also a way to make it through the holidays with a smile. Tomlinson gives out phone cards to troops to afford them an easy, and cost-free means to get in touch with their families and friends.

He emphasizes the importance of staying in a deployed mindset, but also of staying connected with family and loved ones especially during this time of year.

“It is hard to ask ‘what would you do for people’, because you cannot make up for the feeling of missing loved ones,” Tomlinson concluded.

• Date Taken: 12.23.2011
• Date Posted: 12.24.2011 09:33
• Story ID: 81741
• Location: CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF