Family honors soldiers in Iraq at Christmas around the world

Newsboy photo/ Charles Kerr THIS FAMILY'S CHRISTMAS TRADITION is not red and green; it's red, white and blue in support of our troops.

Brittany Holmes didn't know that theme for the annual Parade of Lights in Jasper would be "Christmas Around the World;" she already had her heart set on naming her float, "Christmas in Baghdad" in honor of her brother, Specialist Aaren Jolet.

Her float featured a white Christmas tree decorated with red, white and blue. They had pictures of her brother and his friends in the 10th Mountain Division, and prayers for all of the troops who must be away from their families for the holidays.

Holmes said her brother and his two buddies, Donnie Ireland of Atlanta, GA, and Brendan Overay of St. Louis, MO, were stationed at Ft. Polk until just recently. The boys met in boot camp and have already been through one tour of duty together. All three were frequent guests at the family home in Newton.

"They've been over so much they're all family now, and we're really going to miss them at Christmas," Holmes said.

"We are a huge military family," Holmes said. "We just knew we wanted to do something to support the troops and let them know we are thinking about them."

Jolet received his combat infantry badge and a purple heart on his first tour of duty when his Humvee was ambushed. He is originally from Bon Wier.