[Grovenet] A Different Christmas Poem

[Geri]

I always check things that purport to be from one of our
military folks, so I found this:

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/glurge/different.asp

On that page, scroll down and read the "Origins" section ---
interesting & poignant background to this poem ...

Geri


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <AumaMarie at aol.com>
To: <grovenet at lists.grovenet.org>; <Pddoecreek at aol.com>; <Ambob357 at aol.com>; <peldyak at juno.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 10:27 PM
Subject: [Grovenet] 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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