[Rhodes22-list] Fw: A Different Christmas Poem

[Hank]

Very nice, Claude.  I'll be forwarding it to a number of folks.

Hank

On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 7:32 PM, Claude Cox <ccc974 at comcast.net> wrote:

> Hank,
>
> Sorry about that....I'll send it again.  If you don't get it this time, my
> guess is that my IP (Comcast) stripped it because it is a pretty long
> file--full-page pic, and considerable script.  Hope it works this time.
>
> Claude
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marshall and Anne McLaughlin
> To: Jane Ball ; Tmk9r at aol.com ; Ann and Bill Robertson ; Nancy Cox ;
> Claude Cox ; Susan Callaway ; Trish Bolton ; Bob Messner
> Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 5:55 PM
> Subject: Fw: A Different Christmas Poem
>
>
> this is very moving...Anne
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Phillip Griffin
> To: 'Angela Pollock'
> Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 5:37 PM
> Subject: FW: 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
>
>
>
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
> Name: not available
> Type: image/png
> Size: 1225964 bytes
> Desc: not available
> Url :
> http://www.rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20081125/909e2229/attachment.png
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
>