To All Forces Overseas This Xmas

[Red Devil]

For all the soldiers, sailors and airmen who cannot be with their families this Xmas:

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 garden 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 Grandfather died in France ' on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gran always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of Burma
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... a Union 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 trench 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, "harbour 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."

[August]

Every hear i read that poem and every year it still chokes me up. Thank you for posting it Red Devil.

[Digital_Trucker]

Does the same to me. Thanks, RD.

[Red Devil]

This is actually the first I have seen of it - wish I could have written it.

[August]

Originally Posted by Red Devil

This is actually the first I have seen of it - wish I could have written it.

Is that Red Devil moniker in reference to the famous British 1st Airborne?

[Red Devil]

Originally Posted by August

Is that Red Devil moniker in reference to the famous British 1st Airborne?

No Sir, purely a sporting affiliation (Manchester United Football Club; known as the Red Devils). I myself was in the 1st Royal Tank Regiment.

[Enigma]

[Jimbuna]

I never get tired of seeing this on every occasion

[SandyCaesar]

That poem was beautiful, Red Devil.

Could someone tell me its origins? Or did RD write it?

[nikimcbee]

Yeah, A grand Huzzah to everybody serving!

Thanks for everything.

[Red Devil]

Originally Posted by SandyCaesar

That poem was beautiful, Red Devil.

Could someone tell me its origins? Or did RD write it?

Unknown, but apparently its been around a short while.

[Falkirion]

First time I've read it but its absolutely brilliant. God bless and protect every member of every armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan etc while they're away from home this Christmas.

[Kapt Z]

Should be engraved into the wall of the Oval Office and the entrance to every VA hospital.

[1480]

I don't know what to say other than, Thank you.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Merry Christmas to my fallen friends from 2/2. Rest easy, bros.