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 Post subject: A soldiers Christmas
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:39 pm 
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I have not verified this, but I think it is appropriate irregardless of whether it is "real"


Image
See ""


pretty powerful..


A Different Christmas Poem...




May we always remember them…

A Different Christmas Poem



The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.


The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.


The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.


Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.


"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..


To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.


No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.


I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.


I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.."


" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."


Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq


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 Post subject: Re: A soldiers Christmas
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:28 pm 
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eric wrote:
I have not verified this, but I think it is appropriate irregardless of whether it is "real"


Eric you are so very right, thank you for posting this.

And a big hug to all who are not at home for Christmas wherever they might be.

Vicki and Duane

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:33 am 
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Wow! Thanks so much, Eric, for sharing that. I know what it's like, being away from home for Christmas, but I was in a warm barracks with no gun fire going off nearby.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:23 pm 
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Thank you from an old military brat born and raised in the Marines. I remember Christmases when us kids honestly did not know if Dad would be alive to come home.

Just hearing he was alive was our present.

Salute! to all the service men and women in harms way. Come home when you can - we got catching up to do.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:10 pm 
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What's to varify? It's a great heart warming poem written a few years back that resurfaces about this time of year.

I love it to death, and it serves as a gentle reminder to us, to remember those who serve to keep us safe and warm, and more importantly, to remind us of their personal sacrifice that they willing make on our behaves, and ask nothing other than to be remembered.

A heartfelt thankyou and a crisp salute to all who've served, fought and especially those left behind.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:56 pm 
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Location: Tyaak, Victoria Australia
Thanks Frank,

I do worry about posting some things because sometimes it does matter whether it is "real" or manufactured.

I recieve a lot of CRUD in my inbox that I wish the senders had self censored.
Hence my concern.

Thank you for your kind words. How long has this been out there?

I know, I will do a snopes search now!

Cheers,
Eric


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:47 pm 
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Location: Prattville, Al. USA
Eric, I don't rely you snopes any more. I don't have another truthfull source either. Still looking.

BTW, that poem is right on, no matter when it was started.

Wayne

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