general gary patton joining us from kabul this morning. we appreciate your time this morning, general. guest: thank you for having me on the show. thanks for bringing my family into the show. it was great to talk to the american public out there. again, mary christmas, happy new year to you all. we're going to get back to our information, but thank you for talking me -- talking to me this morning. happy holidays. host: we will continue our conversations with u.s. service members from afghanistan

general gary patton joining us from kabul this morning. we appreciate your time this morning, general. guest: thank you for having me on the show. thanks for bringing my family into the show. it was great to talk to the american public out there. again, mary christmas, happy new year to you all. we're going to get back to our information, but thank you for talking me -- talking to me this morning. happy holidays. host: we will continue our conversations with u.s. service members from afghanistan a half- hour with a number of different u.s. service members here this christmas morning. we will be right back. >> c-span, christmas day, a look ahead to 2010 politics, including republican congressman eric cantor, an nbc's david gregory. buzz aldrin and fellow astronauts on the legacy of apollo 11. a discussion on the role of muslim americans in the world. later, a discussion on u.s. strategy against al qaeda in afghanistan. and starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern, remembering the lives of william f. buckley jr. and senator ted kennedy. >> in the mid-1

as you heard from general gary patton, it is about 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. there in afghanistan. we will get to our service members, marines, soldiers and sailors in just a bit. here is a commentary in the philadelphia inquirer. we're joined by a marine joined bylyle stiffarm. we appreciate you joining us this morning. tell us a bit about yourself, your machine, and how long you have been in afghanistan. guest: good morning to you, mary christmas. i am from foreground, montana. i am a native american. i have been in afghanistan for four and a half months. i have 45 days and counting. host: there'll be a little bit of satellite delay, as we had with general patton this morning. our first guest this morning is sergeant lyle stiffarm. you have been in the marine corps for a number of years. and you have experience as well in iraq? guest: yes, i was in iraq for two years. this is my first time in afghanistan. i have been in the marine corps about 10 years now. host: tell us about what a typical day is like for you in your duties there and afghanistan and what did -- to this day is li