And Happy Holidays to the rest.

A little Holiday poem follows. i'm not sure if this is new or been
posted here before.
i just got back from DC. as i always do, around the Holidays, no
matter what city i'm in; i like to visit the local Vet hospital. allot
of those guys never get a visitor. so, being a Vet, and an old softy, i
like to visit and say hi. i know, total stranglers. so what. some of
those guys and gales never get a visit from anyone but a Doctor. think
about it. it's great flying your Flag, and a bumper sticker on your
car is nice. but, don't forget about the people who came back, but
didn't make it home. allot of them don't have family.
anyhow, off the soapbox. i dropped into Walter Reed, or what's left
of it, last week. it was great as it always is. all ages there. and a
lot of guys back from Iraq. some really bad. i spent about 6 hours
there. talked to a bunch of people, and got invited to lunch. good time.
as, i was leaving, one of the guys called me back to thank me for just
stopping by. he gave me an envelope, and a hug. and i went on my way.
i opened the envelope on my flight home. inside was a poem that brought
tears to my eyes. i know allot of the regs here are Vets, so i thought
i would share it with everyone. Merry Christmas to all.

Drifter...

*on*the*fringe*of*Pittsburgh*




"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.

And there, 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."



author unknown.