A Different Christmas Poem

[Billsotx]

I like this and thought I'd do like this man asked: Pass It On!

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.

[JohnD]

Very nice, Thanks for sharing that with us.

John

[Hidemechanic]

No kidding Bill,

I've struggled for years with this concept of "Tell a soldier 'Thanks', or Shake a Vet's hand", not that I have anything against it at all but it just seems a little,,well,, LITTLE.

I don't know who wrote that poem but it says what I've felt for some time. That those of us who stay behind in the safty of our society, when we don't take it for granted, at least feel helpless to 'Do our part' for our country.

I'm not a politican nor do I care to be but the majorety of Americans don't have the platform to voice our vews as do the those in politics and Hollywood. They don't speak for the majorety, they just speak louder.

The only platform we have is our neighbors, co-workers, school staff and friends ect...

That poem articulated to me that it is enough for me to stand on my own convictions and speak out when I can for what is right.

We are what politicians call(used to call) 'The Grass Roots' of America. I feel we can no longer only wait for voting day stand up for what we believe, but we need to become more vocal in our community and with our representetives.

I know, most of us are two carreer households and still struggling and there is only so much time in the day, but maybe there is a way I can make better use of the free time I do have to show my patriotism, and support.

Our soldiers,past and presant, need their deeds remembered, and my hope is that each day of freedom I get to enjoy, I can find a way to be a reminder to others that there are men and women standing outside our front door watching over us.

It hits home for me today especially, because my son on this very day is stepping off a transort in Kuait to start his second tour for the next 18mo., will likely miss the next two Christmases as well as the birth of his little girl due in March.

So Bill, Thanks for helping me ask myself, "what do I have to complain about?"

G.Hackett-- GO Strykers 2/14 Cav, HOORAH!!