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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=3>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. </FONT></DIV><FONT color=#000000>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
<BR>Transforming the yard to a winter delight. <BR>The sparkling lights in the
tree I believe, <BR>Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>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. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>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, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the
snow. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
<BR>And I crept to the door just to see who was near. <BR>Standing out in the
cold and the dark of the night, <BR>A lone figure stood, his face weary and
tight. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>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.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>"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!"
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
<BR>Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.. <BR>To the window that
danced with a warm fire's light <BR>Then he sighed and he said "Its really all
right, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>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>No one had to ask or beg or implore me, <BR>I'm proud
to stand here like my fathers before me. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>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. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>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. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>I can live through the cold and the being
alone, <BR>Away from my family, my house and my home. <BR>I can stand at my post
through the rain and the sleet, <BR>I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>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."
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>"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." </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>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." <BR><BR>PLEASE, would you do me
the kind favor of sending this to as many people <BR>as <BR>you can? Christmas
will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S <BR>service men and women
for our being able to celebrate these festivities. <BR>Lets <BR>try in this
small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop <BR>and think of
our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for
<BR>us. <BR><BR>LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN <BR>30th Naval Construction
Regiment <BR>OIC, Logistics Cell One <BR>Al Taqqadum, Iraq
<BR></FONT></FONT><BR><BR></DIV></DIV>
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