Posted on 12/05/2004 12:53:02 PM PST by Jackknife
Christmas Poem
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE, AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.
NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE, CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER, NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ? CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT, OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE! SOLDIER S WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE, ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE, I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE, "SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE, MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."
THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.
I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED, "CARRY! ON SANT A, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. "MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."
This poem was written by a Marine. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable.....
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. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.
...................................................................Lets ALL remember to keep our United States Soldiers in our prayers.
God Bless them and keep them safe!
MY LIFE IS...
1. MY GOD,
2. MY COUNTRY,
3. MY CORPS."
Jordan, Jeff ...Semper Fi... boys
Thank you for posting the Marine's poem. I shed a tear or two reading it, and sent it to lots of my friends, and to my family.
Thank you, Marines, Soldiers, and Sailors who are serving this great country of ours all over the globe. May the Spirit of Christmas bloom in your hearts and give you the
peace of our beloved Lord.
My pleasure.
Beautiful poem Ping!
God Bless our Marines and All our Military and keep them safe.
They are in His hands.
My family has been in this country since 1650, my family has been in Texas over 100 years. I live where I please and I do what I please because of these fine young men. Of all my history in this country the most precious thing is that I am a mother of a former Marine. God bless em!
Thanks for posting the poem.
Thank you Jackknife, It's a beautiful tear jerker! Sending it on to our 3 grandsons and one nephew, serving our country in Iraq. God Bless our troops and keep them safe!
Please let them know that they are loved and supported.
Thank you for raising up a Marine. God bless you.
Thanks for posting this again!
My dad was able to tell us kids (long time ago, when we were kids) how, during the Battle of the Bulge, when he was 19 years old, his unit could hear the German soldiers, on Christmas Eve, singing "Silent Night" across the Rhine (I think it the Rhine?). If memory serves, Dad's unit answered back with it in English.
Now that is an interesting story. Thanks for the reply.
Thanks, it was my pleasure.
They were all very cold in the snow, it was very moving hearing the story one night in rural VA, even for us teenagers.
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