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." 

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of 
sending this to as many people as you can? 
Christmas will be coming soon and some credit 
is due to our U.S service men and women for 
our being able to celebrate these festivities. 
Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny 
bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think 
of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed 
themselves for us. 

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