Twas the night before Christmas...

09 December 2004, 05:32

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."

Merry Christmas guys!
Lawdogso

09 December 2004, 06:37

tasunkawitko

one of the BSBs had access to some extra verses that were written for this poem, and i will add them here along with the original. sorry for the extra length.

----------------------

I've also seen an "addition" to this as well.

Pardon the length.

ï¿½Twas 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 stockings 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 racing to 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 Iï¿½d 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 couldnï¿½t 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,

ï¿½Santa donï¿½t cry,

This life is my choice.ï¿½

ï¿½I fight for freedom

I donï¿½t ask for more,

My life is my God,

My country, my war.ï¿½

The soldier rolled over

And drifted to sleep.

I couldnï¿½t control it,

I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours,

So silent and still,

And we both shivered

From the cold nightï¿½s chill.

I didnï¿½t 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, ï¿½Carry on Santa,

Itï¿½s Christmas Eve, all is secure.ï¿½

One look at my watch

And I knew he was right

ï¿½Merry Christmas my friend

And to you a good night.ï¿½

I climbed up the chimney

And hopped on my sleigh,

Praying and hoping

Iï¿½d see him again one day.

Pulled by my reindeer

I sped through the sky,

When Spirits of other soldiers

Came passing me by.

The first one was the oldest

A soldier from George Washingtonï¿½s ranks,

A Revolutionary War Vet armed only with a musket and sword,

No planes, no tanks.

He said, ï¿½Though it all started

With soldiers like me,

Itï¿½s the others that follow

That kept us free.ï¿½

Next came a pair of spirits

One gray, one blue.

ï¿½We are brothers.ï¿½

Exclaimed the two.

One fought with Grant

The other with Lee

ï¿½Though we died by the others hand,

We won our nationï¿½s unity.ï¿½

How tragic that is

I so painfully thought,

That the two brothers

Had to have fought.

I cringed at the prospect

Of the spiritsï¿½ stories ahead.

My soul was filled

With fear and with dread.

A spirit appeared

Wearing a wide brimmed hat,

A Springfield rifle at port

And his hair a mat.

ï¿½I fought the axis powers

In the first World War,ï¿½

To preserve freedom for all

From Europe to the American shore.ï¿½

ï¿½Freedom was won

Or so we thought,

The Nazis and Japan

were who we fought.ï¿½

From the direction of these voices

Came two men,

All bruised and battered

And ghastly thin.

On the shoulder of one

Was a 101st Airborne Patch,

A bandolier of ammo

And a Thompson to match.

The other had a 45

And carried a sword.

The Marineï¿½s face

Was as stern as a board

One started to speak

With a tear in his eye,

But wouldnï¿½t let it go

As the soldier wouldnï¿½t cry.

ï¿½Eighteen days before Christmas

The Japs started their attack,

As my brother on the Arizona

Lay asleep in his rack.

Many more soldiers

Died in our war,

From Mt. Sirabachi

To the Normandy Shore

But in the end

Peace was won,

Through the sacrifice of soldiers

Armed with courage and gun.ï¿½

These two spirits

Were from the Greatest Generation,

But more souls would be lost

In the defense of a nation.

The World War 2 Spirits

Then faded from the scene.

When from the night sky

Came another spirit in green.

ï¿½You fought in Korea?ï¿½ I asked

Not sure if heï¿½d speak

He looked sick and frail

And terribly weak.

ï¿½Iï¿½m surprised you remember,

Not many still do,

Except those who fought it

And of those there are fewï¿½

ï¿½We pushed the communists

to the North from the sea,

And to this very day

Thatï¿½s where they still be.ï¿½

ï¿½Your sacrifice was appreciated,ï¿½ I told him

ï¿½by a nation still freeï¿½

ï¿½Ours has been called the ï¿½Forgotten Warï¿½,ï¿½ said the spirit

ï¿½And thatï¿½s a pity.ï¿½

ï¿½Iï¿½d do it again,ï¿½ he said

ï¿½With no fear or regrets,

For I knew thereï¿½d follow

Many more vets.ï¿½

And sadly I knew

He was undoubtedly right,

As a Green Beret appeared

Out of the Christmas Eve night

Wearing silver wings on his chest

And carrying an M-16,

He said, ï¿½I was the last

Of my 12 man teamï¿½

ï¿½The Nam is where we went

so young and so green.

We thought weï¿½d force

The American dream.ï¿½

ï¿½After The Ashau, The Hill, Khe Sahn,

and La Drang,

The KIAï¿½s climbed

And the teletypes sangï¿½

ï¿½Three thousand missing

Fifty thousand dead,

The numbers are hard

To see in oneï¿½s head.ï¿½

ï¿½When Nixon said itï¿½s over,

To home weï¿½d race

Only to meet our countrymen

Who spat in our face.ï¿½

ï¿½After the loss and pain

And everything we went through

We realized we had fought for our brothers

Whose pine beds were draped with red white and blue.ï¿½

ï¿½People have said

ï¿½In Vietnam, America lost,ï¿½

That it was tragic

And too high a cost.ï¿½

ï¿½Never again,ï¿½

They would say,

ï¿½Would we use our soldiers

In such a frivolous way.ï¿½

ï¿½But as I stand before you Santa

On this Christmas Eve night,

You and I know

Many more went to fightï¿½

And with that he left

His point well made,

For all Americans to remember

The price of liberty thatï¿½s paid.

From his story

To my mind there came a thought,

Since Vietnam

There were many places they fought.

From Lebanon, Beirut,

Panama and the Ukraine,

To Somalia, Haiti and The Gulf

American soldiers fought the same.

Americaï¿½s military

Was unequalled world round.

Then a new enemy

Came to town.

Radicals from the east

Entered Americaï¿½s skies,

Then crashed into buildings

Taking so many innocent lives.

But a charge of patriotism

Surged throughout the land,

And Americans all over

Decided to take a stand.

The first to answer

Fell from the Pennsylvania sky,

To protect the innocent

They were willing to die.

Then planes were launched

And ships set sail,

Mothers and wives

Began to wail.

ï¿½Defend our county!ï¿½

Lady Freedom did call,

And American soldiers did answer

To preserve liberty for all.

Unknownst to the world

For weeks, Spec Ops had been out

Watching the Taliban and

The defensive theyï¿½d mount.

ï¿½Hand over the Taliban,ï¿½ Bush told them

ï¿½Or else youï¿½ll regret it.ï¿½

They didnï¿½t take Americaï¿½s offer

But instead said, ï¿½Forget it.ï¿½

News of their refusal

Had reached pilotsï¿½ ears,

Their iron eagles were launched

Much to Afghani fears.

They imposed justice

Out of the skies.

The Taliban were shocked

And fled like mice.

Then parachuted in infantry,

Tanks and much more.

Soldiers would say of the Taliban,

ï¿½They wanted this war!ï¿½

To the mountains and trenches

The Taliban fled.

ï¿½Much like the First World Warï¿½

I said in my head.

Osama Bin Laden

A very wanted man,

Died in a bus or

Fled to Pakistan.

Dead or alive

America knows not for sure.

But wherever there were terrorists

Thatï¿½s where American soldiers were.

Back to Iraq

America would go,

Amidst suicide bombers

To stop terrorismï¿½s flow.

Some Americans question ï¿½Why?ï¿½

Others ask, ï¿½How?ï¿½

But in my mind

I know the answer now.

American soldiers,

No matter race, color or name,

Fight, bleed and die

All just the same.

Ask them why and theyï¿½ll say

ï¿½We do it for America and for each other,

As the man beside you

You must trust as a brother.ï¿½

ï¿½Those who have seen

Never stop seeing,

The blood, pain and the sacrifice

That becomes part of a soldierï¿½s being.ï¿½

ï¿½Of all that we could ask

Only one thing comes to mind,

Simply promise to remember us

When you have time.ï¿½

ï¿½Fly the colors we fought for

Oh, our Red White and Blue.

For it was under those colors we fought

For our families and for you.ï¿½

ï¿½When the national anthem starts,

Go ahead and sing,

No matter the voice,

In our ears it will ring.ï¿½

ï¿½Be conscious during the holidays

Of our brothers who were lost,

The price they paid

Was the ultimate cost.ï¿½

I nor anyone

Can understand all that they did,

No mother, no father

No adult, no kid.

Save he who did fight -

The American Vet.

Respect and thanks

From his nation he should get.

ï¿½I figured it out,ï¿½

I achingly thought.

My heart was broken

My tongue a knot.

I bawled then sniffled

Then wiped the tears from my eyes,

When all of a sudden

I did realize.

On my own I figured out nothing

In my simple head.

It was the stories of the soldiers

It was what they said.

But I will try to remember

Every word the soldiers did say,

Especially now

On this free Christmas Day.

The author doesn't want any special credit or to detract from the original unknown author but rather build upon it as it applied to what was going on at the time, which was the Afghani and Iraqi conflict. Hope you enjoy it and hope that everyone heeds its words.