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<p
style="text-align:
center;"
align="center"><b><u><font
size="4"
color="#c00000"
face="Times
New Roman"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(192, 0,
0);">A
Different
Christmas Poem</span></font></u></b><font
size="2"
color="black"><span
style="font-size:
10pt; color:
black;"> <br>
<br>
<br>
</span></font><font
color="black"><span
style="color:
black;"><img
id="ecxyiv1385327788_x0000_i1026"
alt="cid:8871361FF4D64155A918B457D40BEC6F@jhpc"
src="cid:part1.09060204.09050303@asajay.com"
height="589"
width="821"></span></font><font
size="4"
color="black"><span
style="font-size:
13.5pt; color:
black;"><br>
<br>
<br>
</span></font><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);">The
embers glowed
softly, and in
their dim
light,<br>
I gazed round
the room and I
cherished the
sight. <br>
My wife was
asleep, her
head on my
chest,<br>
My daughter
beside me,
angelic in
rest.<br>
Outside the
snow fell, a
blanket of
white,<br>
Transforming
the yard to a
winter
delight.</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"> </span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
The sparkling
lights in the
tree I
believe,<br>
Completed the
magic that was
Christmas
Eve. <br>
My eyelids
were heavy, my
breathing was
deep,<br>
Secure and
surrounded by
love I would
sleep.<br>
In perfect
contentment,
or so it would
seem,<br>
So I
slumbered,
perhaps I
started to
dream.</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"> </span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
The sound
wasn't loud,
and it wasn't
too near,<br>
But I opened
my eyes when
it tickled my
ear. <br>
Perhaps just a
cough, I
didn't quite
know, Then the<br>
sure sound of
footsteps
outside in the
snow.<br>
My soul gave a
tremble, I
struggled to
hear,<br>
And I crept to
the door just
to see who was
near.</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"> </span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
Standing out
in the cold
and the dark
of the night,<br>
A lone figure
stood, his
face weary and
tight. <br>
A soldier, I
puzzled, some
twenty years
old,<br>
Perhaps a
Marine,
huddled here
in the cold.<br>
Alone in the
dark, he
looked up and
smiled,<br>
Standing watch
over me, and
my wife and my
child.</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"> <br>
<br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
"What are you
doing?" I
asked without
fear,<br>
"Come in this
moment, it's
freezing out
here! <br>
Put down your
pack, brush
the snow from
your sleeve,<br>
You should be
at home on a
cold Christmas
Eve!"<br>
For barely a
moment I saw
his eyes
shift,<br>
Away from the
cold and the
snow blown in
drifts… <br>
<br>
<br>
To the window
that danced
with a warm
fire's light<br>
Then he sighed
and he said,
"Its really
all right, <br>
I'm out here
by choice. I'm
here every
night.<br>
"It's my duty
to stand at
the front of
the line,<br>
That separates
you from the
darkest of
times. <br>
<br>
<br>
No one had to
ask or beg or
implore me,<br>
I'm proud to
stand here
like my
fathers before
me. <br>
My Gramps died
at ' Pearl on
a day in
December,"<br>
Then he
sighed,
"That's a
Christmas
'Gram always
remembers."<br>
My dad stood
his watch in
the jungles of
' Nam ',<br>
And now it is
my turn and
so, here I
am. <br>
<br>
<br>
I've not seen
my own son in
more than a
while,<br>
But my wife
sends me
pictures, he's
sure got her
smile.” <br>
Then he bent
and he
carefully
pulled from
his bag,<br>
The red,
white, and
blue... an
American flag.<br>
“I can live
through the
cold and the
being alone,<br>
Away from my
family, my
house and my
home.</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"> </span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
I can stand at
my post
through the
rain and the
sleet,<br>
I can sleep in
a foxhole with
little to
eat. <br>
I can carry
the weight of
killing
another,<br>
Or lay down my
life with my
sister and
brother..<br>
Who stand at
the front
against any
and all,<br>
To ensure for
all time that
this flag will
not fall."</span></font></b><b><font
size="2"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
10pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"> <br>
<br>
</span></font></b><b><font
size="4"
color="#632423"><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-size:
13.5pt; color:
rgb(99, 36,
35);"><br>
"So go back
inside," he
said, "harbor
no fright,<br>
Your family is
waiting and
I'll be all
right."<br>
"But isn't
there
something I
can do, at the
least,<br>
"Give you
money," I
asked, "or
prepare you a
feast?<br>
It seems all
too little for
all that
you've done, <br>
For being away
from your wife
and your
son." <br>
<br>
<br>
Then his eye
welled a tear
that held no
regret,<br>
"Just tell us
you love us,
and never
forget. <br>
To fight for
our rights
back at home
while we're
gone,<br>
To stand your
own watch, no
matter how
long.<br>
For when we
come home,
either
standing or
dead,<br>
To know you
remember we
fought and we
bled.<br>
Is payment
enough, and
with that we
will trust, <br>
That we
mattered to
you as you
mattered to
us."</span></font></b><font
size="4"
color="black"><span
style="font-size:
13.5pt; color:
black;"><br>
<br>
<b><i><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-style:
italic;">PLEASE,
would you do
me the kind
favor of
sending this
to as many <br>
people as you
can? Christmas
will be coming
soon and some
credit is due
to our<br>
U.S service
men and women
for our being
able to
celebrate
these<br>
festivities.
Let's try in
this small way
to pay a tiny
bit of what we
owe. Make
people <br>
stop and think
of our heroes,
living and
dead, who
sacrificed
themselves for
us.</span></i></b></span></font><font
size="2"
color="black"><span
style="font-size:
10pt; color:
black;"> <br>
<br>
<b><i><span
style="font-weight:
bold;
font-style:
italic;">LCDR
Jeff Giles,
SC, USN<br>
30th Naval
Construction
Regiment<br>
OIC, Logistics
Cell One<br>
Al Taqqadum,
Iraq </span></i></b></span></font><font
size="4"
color="black"><span
style="font-size:
13.5pt; color:
black;"><br>
</span></font><font
size="1"
color="black"><span
style="font-size:
7.5pt; color:
black;"><br>
</span></font><b><span
style="font-weight:
bold;">In God
We Trust</span></b></p>
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