Freeman School graduate Edward Crawford (MBA ’09, MGM ’09, LA ’09), an associate with Goldman Sachs & Co. in Miami, is currently deployed with U.S. Navy special operations forces in Afghanistan. He recently this holiday message to share with the Freeman community.
Dear Friends,
I write to you all today on Christmas from Afghanistan. I’ve been deployed in this remote province for 6 months now and have just a few more months to go. This deployment has been an incredible experience and has taught me a lot about what is most important in life.
Edward Crawford
We have had good times and bad times but we have always pulled through together. The fighting season here is finally over but unfortunately there has still been violence. We have lost a number of brothers in the last few weeks and the last one’s remains will arrive home on Christmas day. It has been a dramatic challenge for us to deal with the loss of these incredible men but we are cognizant of those wives who have lost their husbands and all the children who will spend their Christmas knowing that their dads will never be back. I have had the great honor of serving with these men who have given their lives for a greater cause and on this beautiful Christmas day we are remembering their sacrifice here. I thank all of you who have supported and prayed for the troops lost during this difficult mission and I pray that, on this day of birth and rebirth, their families can find some solace that their loved ones died as heroes and will never be forgotten. I wanted to thank each and everyone one of you for supporting Mary, Caroline and baby Edward in my absence and for the love and comfort you have provided. You have made this Christmas the most memorable of all.
Today is a new day, a day of joy and we are celebrating how lucky we are to have friends like you. I can’t wait to see you all back in the states in just a few months. Have a Merry Christmas, may God bless you and may the Christmas spirit dwell in each and every one of you on this special day.
The only blind person at Christmas time is he who has not Christmas in his heart.
(Helen Keller)
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Edward J. Crawford Morton A. Aldrich Fellow & Jones Scholar MBA/MA/MGM Tulane University, A. B. Freeman School of Business
