Thread: A Different Christmas Poem

In honor of members of our ALIPAC family who have either served in the military, are currently serving, or have family members who are serving, I plead your indulgence and approval of this message.

Even the smallest freedom we enjoy is a result of those who have bravely gone before us to defend our rights and way of life. We owe those who risk so much every ounce of respect we can muster at this time of year when many serve so far from home in harms way.

We owe these brave men, women, and their families not only a debt of gratitude, but also a commitment to defend the rights and freedoms they entrusted to us as a people when they deployed on our behalf. I urge each and every American to plant that seed deep within each heart as we face the most trying times here at home that this nation has faced in generations.

Please add your comments in support of our troops below, and if anyone has family stationed abroad please forward the link to this story on to their unit prior to the Christmas holiday. I'm sure with all the uncertainty they suspect is rife at home, at least they will find assurance there are still those that remember them and work to preserve what they so unselfishly defend.



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."

This was reproduced from an email circulating far and wide in support of our armed forces. Below is the addendum request accompanying the email. While many will rush off to check Snopes for validity, I say, "What does it matter where it really originated?" Show your respect if you have it and if not hold your piece while the rest of us honor our heroes.

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

Thank you, and I am still wiping away tears. My fiance was in Nam and died in that war when the helicopter he was piloting was shot down. Our troops are the most cherished and most brave to carry out these missions.
I am truly grateful for the bravery of our troops, no matter where they are deployed, as they are bringing a ray of hope for sanity to the rest of the world.

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING AMAZING
If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a
thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier
that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but
it will go to a member of the armed services.
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!!
It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?
Wheth er you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need
to know we are behind them.
This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you u.
Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others
to do. We can never say enough thank you's.
Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

Thanks!!!!! My postcard is on its way.
The best and the brightest that are stuck in foreign lands in the middle of foreign wars absolutely need to know we worry about them and pray for them coming safely home. This is the season for celebrating family and friends, and to every American these folks need to be considered some of the best friends we have, fighting for our freedoms.