Festive cheer, Afghan-style, for US troops on the frontline

FOB TALIBJAN, Afghanistan - There will be no Christmas turkey and trimmings for US marines at Patrol Base Talibjan this year - a chemically heated meal of preserved meat is all the infantry men expect.

The troops - living in unheated tents in the Taliban heartland of Musa Qala district, in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province - will climb out of their sleeping bags as usual, plan patrols and hope the day ends without casualties.

"I'm hoping it's going to be a quiet day and our guys can relax a little bit," says Staff Sergeant Josh McCall, 32, who will call his wife and children at home in rural North Carolina on Saturday.