All Marine wants for Christmas is lots of lights

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Most Marines ask for packages of snack foods or socks or letters from loved ones back home. But for this holiday season, Cpl. Harris McGowan had a different request:

Christmas lights.

"He wants as many lights as we can send him," said John McGowan of Yakima, who received an email from his son Friday morning with the request. "They just want to decorate their shop."

Harris, 27, is serving on an air base in Afghanistan in Marine Aviation Logistical Support, working on equipment and keeping the planes in good condition. He joined the Marines about four years ago, and just re-enlisted for another four years.

The shop where they work on base is huge, his dad says, so they've got lots of room for lights.

"They got the approval to do this; we can't send too many, I guess," McGowan said.

Harris was deployed overseas before, but to Djibouti, a tiny country on the northeastern coast of Africa, instead of an active combat zone. He was sent to Afghanistan in August. It's tough this time of year, said McGowan, who also has a daughter who served in the Navy.

"We're a real close family around Christmastime," he said. "We have our hearts in our throats all the time."

Sending Christmas lights over would be "at least a connection," he added.

Perhaps Harris is looking to start a new tradition overseas.

"It's never been done," McGowan said of his son's project. "He says, 'That's all I want for Christmas.'"

How to help ...
■ Christmas lights for Marine Cpl. McGowan can be sent to this address:

Cpl. McGowan, Harris
MALS 40 DetA W/C 990
Unit 78369
FPO AE 09510-8369