Dec 24, 2008 9:36 pm US/Pacific
130 Tracy Families Have Soldiers Overseas For Xmas
TRACY (CBS13) ―
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U.S. and Iraqi soldiers stand guard as internally displaced families who want to return to their homes register their names in Gazaliyah neighborhood northwest of Baghdad. (File Photo)
Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images
It's the time of year when people gather with family and friends, but for 130 families in Tracy, their loved ones are overseas, celebrating Christmas in a war zone.
Millie Comber will spend her first Christmas without her 20-year-old son Jake, who is a soldier with the 101st Airborne Division, patrolling hostile neighborhoods in northern Iraq.
"Nobody wants to fight a war, but sometimes wars have to be fought," Millie said. "My son is there for a reason."
Jake's father, Dennis, feels the same way. "I'm proud of him, but I do miss him," he said.
The Combers are just one family out of 130 in Tracy missing their child who is overseas this Christmas, according to Military Moms of Tracy.
With 80,000 people living in the city, Tracy has one of the highest rates per capita of military causalities in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the state. Millie says the community's pride is the reason for the staggering numbers.
"The boys and girls… have been raised by parents that love America and love what we stand for," she said.
A memorial in town bears the names of the residents who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. The Comber family knows the danger Jake faces every day, but they say they know he's doing what he loves.
"I just can't say how proud of him for what he's doing and how he's conducting his life," Dennis said.
Jake is scheduled to return home by the end of the month for two weeks before heading back to Iraq.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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