The saying here in Baghdad is that "every day is a Monday." Deja vu is an easy habit to fall into when you are working seven days a week. But a week ago Monday was a little different. It was Chanukah.

As hard as we may work at times, the military is good about making sure we have the opportunity to celebrate Shabbat and all of the other Jewish holidays. And on this Chanukah, we had more than enough menorahs to provide for what I call the JOVBC -- "The Jews of Victory Base Complex."

Before you wonder about whether tax dollars paid for such a religious article, let me assure you that they didn't. Instead, the JOVBC received a gift from Michael Shires of Richmond, Va. Michael decided that for his bar mitzvah act of charity, he would send a Chanukah package to deployed service members. He actually sent dozens of packages, each containing a menorah, candles, a dreidel, some chocolate gelt and other candy, and a deck of cards.

It was a welcome counterpoise to the stacks of Christmas items that have also been donated to the people serving over here. Michael helped make this Chanukah memorable, not just because I spent it deployed, as I have spent many holidays over the years, but because it reminded me that dedication can come from people of all ages and that we are not forgotten, even by those who have never met us.

My first "deployed" care package was a Passover box (matzah, gefilte fish É ) sent by my aunt's congregation to Korea in 1985. Through the years, others followed. My dad sent "a salami to his boy in the army" (go find an old Hebrew National ad to help understand that one -- and be sure to read it in a New York accent.)

In Kuwait, I remember pawing through thousands of cards in December -- looking for something in blue and white, not red and green -- and then later, there was a Passover seder with donated food. When I was in Kosovo, I was too sleep-deprived even to remember making the effort to look for a reminder of being Jewish in the Army.

This year has been a very warm Chanukah, at least as much as it can be so far from family and friends. In addition to Michael's bar mitzvah thoughtfulness, my own congregation, Kol Ami-the Northern Virginia Reconstructionist Community in Annandale, sent boxes for all the troops -- nothing specifically Jewish, but everything a soldier (or sailor, or airman, Marine, Coast Guardsman, Defense Department civilian and contractor) may need or want to just feel a little more connected to home.

I guess the point to all this is, some of you may know about programs to send things to deployed troops. Some of you may not. Some of you have friends and family deployed. Some do not.

But, all of you have the opportunity to turn "just another Monday" into a chance for someone here to have a few seconds of connection with the people back home. We wouldn't be Jews if we didn't read that as my trying to give you a guilt trip. And that is most specifically not why I am writing this. I am writing this to tell you, as plainly as I can: Thanks. It does matter.

So thanks to Michael Shires -- who doesn't know me, and to my family (over the years) and fellow congregants who do.

And thanks to all of you who spend even part of a day with us in your thoughts. Your thoughts matter to us -- even to those of us who have never met you and probably never will.

An Army colonel, Michael Linick of Annandale has been a soldier for almost 27 years. He is currently serving in Iraq.