Christmas Poem by a Marine

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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.

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 SOLDIERS
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 SANTA,
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."
 
I was pretty lucky. I got to spend a couple of Christmas Days at home. But a couple I did not. It was more than 30 years or so ago. Before 911 it wasn't politically correct to thank people for their service, and lots of people looked at Marines in uniform with less than admiration.....



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Oh I hear you fencer. I'm ret. fire department, 5 generations of FD and USN.

But the truth of the matter is that on more than one occasion, I was scared to death and there are things I wish I had never seen and could forget.

Neither of my two sons have any interest in the FD or the service and I don't have a bad thought about it. Times are not what they were in our day and I would be as hesitant about them entering the service as you are. It's not selfish, it's self preservation. I wish him well in any endeavor. God speed and God bless.
 
I was pretty lucky. I got to spend a couple of Christmas Days at home. But a couple I did not. It was more than 30 years or so ago. Before 911 it wasn't politically correct to thank people for their service, and lots of people looked at Marines in uniform with less than admiration.....

I hear you Fencer! Been down that very same road. The Army uniform was looked upon no differently.
 
I hear you Fencer! Been down that very same road. The Army uniform was looked upon no differently.

I know that road was a lot bumpier in your day. My brother used to say that the craziest, bravest men Nam where the pilots. He got hit with shrapnel from an RPG and said when they were carrying him to the chopper, he was as high as a kite from the corpsman's morphine, and when he saw all the bullet holes in the Huey he thought he would be safer on the ground.
 
lol..............our sheet metal guys were kept busy patching holes in our Hueys. We used to carry a roll of "100 MPH Tape" to patch the holes in the rotor blades. It helped to be young and full of piss and vinegar with a whole lot of adrenalin pumping most of the time! Some crazy times.
 
God bless and God keep all those who have worn the uniform, in whatever form it might have been, both home and abroad. We owe you all a debt of gratitude. I'll be forwarding this to my son, a USMC himself, and to few others that I've had the pleasure of calling friend, co-worker, and family.
 
I am indeed very thankful for the sacrifice that our soldiers have made, past, present and future.

On a side note, Santa should be happy he didn’t catch a bullet!
 
Some serious confusion between soldiers and Marines, those of us who served know that the two are not interchangeable.
Semper Fi

Yeah. I didn’t want to bring it up, but I doubt a marine wrote a poem and used “soldiers.”

Fencer is absolutely right. It’s the thought that counts.
 
Ok, I'm seriously confused, someone wanna enlighten me ? Just kidding Marines....lol

I thank those that are currently serving or have served

PS: I thank god that I/we were ignored. A politically correct "thank-you for your service" would bring a unwanted explosive result.

BTW: I stay the eff away from imposing myself on some gritty combat soldier, I know the look, I read the book

Merry Christmas to all !!!
 
It was sent to me from a friend and I figured those here would appreciate it so I merely cut and pasted it here. Having not served in the military (but having worked with the Navy), I didn't parse it out and catch that all referrals were to "soldiers". However, a poem won't work if you start adding "sailors, soldiers, coast guard, Marines" in each part of the poem, so you can accept it in the spirit it was meant or if someone requests, I can change the header paragraph to US Army instead and then it will be grammatically correct. I'm good either way, so let me know if someone wants me to change it?
 
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