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."

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

A lone man once traveled, nobody but he,

Among towers of steel along streets by the sea.

Walking alone with his thoughts and a memory of past

Of friends whom were his and were his to the last.

To others around him he gave not a thought,

Only to rest, his thoughts only sought.

A faded mark on his shoulder which pained him with cold,

He shuffled along, ne'er complaining yet old.

The Sun rose behind him to light his dark way,

Another chance to begin, another new day.

He paused just a moment when a face passed him by

And rested again on a bench by the sky.

He wondered and wept for his family long gone,

He wept for his children, why he was alone.

He pondered his fate, what he'd done in his life,

He bowed his head low and wept again for his wife.

Mourning​​​​​ alone, this lonely man cried

For those he held dear, for those whom had died.

The people around him cared naught for his plight

Only hoping this tramp would be gone from their sight.

For hours he sat on a stone bench, alone

Wishing for love and missing his home....

A shadow passing o'er his form rose his sight

And thunder above turned his day into night.

When flames fell around him, another raised Shield

While bravely he stood, refusing to yield.

A being of light dried his tears while He said:

"It's time to go home, I'll remain in your stead."

"For, you see, you have earned a place at His Throne,

Today, you'll be leaving. Today, you'll go Home.

Your family awaits, Marine you must go,

I'll be right here to help you from right here below."

"Our Father has called you, to Him you must go to

Please don't look back, I'm right here behind you!

You've earned your rest, but others, you see,

Will need me the most, don't worry for me.

For I am the Son of the Father Most High,

Take care of my Gates, this is not Good-bye.

Someday I'll return and you'll be with me

To put things to right again by the sea."

SSGT Jackson, USMC