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."
Show
that you too, are "Proud to be an American"
crusading in the Army of Soldiers for Christ!
Get
involved before it’s too late!!!
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