Every reader of history knows of rosy, illusory claims made by boastful leaders as soldiers gathered to march off to one of the many wars that have occurred in the last 2,000 years. “Our side will win quickly, and the boys will be home by Christmas.”

During the Revolutionary War, Christmas at Valley Forge was a glaring exception to the rule. George Washington lead his army of 11,000 men — a third of which was not fit for duty — into Valley Forge just before Christmas 1777. The temperatures that winter were hovering near 6 degrees. The troops were ill-clothed and ill-housed. But the Continental Army found a way to reverse the course of the war. That Christmas was the beginning of an incredible tale of survival.

During the American Civil War, politicians from both the North and South were confident as armies mobilized that the disagreement would be settled in a few months. But the War between the States turned into a bitter conflict lasting four years and causing hundreds of thousands of casualties.

The U.S. Army is the only branch of the military that honors the Christmas exodus for all recruits who are in basic training and advanced infantry training. The Army shuts down all of its training schools during exodus to allow the drill sergeants and instructors to have a break at Christmas. The exodus break generally starts a week before Christmas and lasts until a week after Christmas. The dates vary every year depending on where in the week Dec. 25 falls that year.

Even if a soldier doesn’t have enough leave time saved up to take the break, and most won’t, the Army will allow him or her to go in the hole to take advantage of this time. In many cases, this means the soldiers will not have leave time available for quite some time after graduation.

The challenge of feeding military forces has always been a difficult one. But it’s a very special time during the holidays. Few commanding officers forget Napoleon Bonaparte’s mythical remark, “An army marches on its stomach.” The United States, and militaries throughout the world, have devoted great effort and huge sums of money to feed the troops at Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Every year, thousands of U.S. military personnel deploy to foreign countries, remote sites and aboard ships/submarines all over the world. An anonymous Army spouse wrote on Military.com that when her soldier deployed over the holiday, the command went all-out to provide a nice meal and holiday cheer.

“Still, it was just another day,” she said.

“It meant they could sometimes be short on the phone or a little irritable or hungry for every single detail of home,” she added. “Be open to whatever spirit your service member brings to the phone or Skype or email that day. You are home to them and this is a great day to celebrate that.”