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 sounds 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, 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 fires' light
then he sighed and he said, "It's really alright,
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 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 alright."
"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 eyes 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."
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
Al Taqqadum, Iraq
Just a reminder that our heroes are out there standing guard for us, protecting us and keeping us safe. Don't forget to pray for our soldiers this Christmas and for their families.
I get to have my soldier home this year! I will be praying for all of the wives, mothers, and fathers who will be missing theirs.
Friday night we had dinner with the whole family.
