Does anyone else have a military themed Christmas stories?

2015-12-15T23:33:42-05:00

This is my favorite, for all of you Tankers out there..

A Tankers' Christmas Story

T'was the night before defense and all through the tank,
not a crewman was stirring so there wasn't a clank.
Our ammo was stowed in the turret with care,
In hopes that some targets soon would be there.
The crewman were sleeping out on the back deck,
I pulled the first watch, figured oh what the heck.
CO's in his HUMVEE and I'm on the steel,
I'm watching our sector cause I know the deal.

When out in the EA there arose such a clatter,
I went to my sight to see what's the matter.
To TRP RED I slewed like a flash,
Flipped it off stand-by (this sight's worth the cash).
When the thermal cut on with it's eerie green glow,
Gave the luster of midday to objects below.
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But an M60 tank I could see quite clear.
With a crusty old TC so lively and quick,
I could tell in a moment it must be St. Nick.

Now faster than lightening in a dust cloud he came,
He cursed and he shouted and called out some names: Now Sherman!
Now Stewart! Now Abrams and Patton!
On Walker! On Christie! On Pershing and Lee!
To the top of the hill we're in some soft dirt,
If I throw a track the driver gets hurt.
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle they blew right on by.
So up to the hill top from the backside he drew,
With a tank full of Class VI, and St. Nicholas too.
And then in a twinkling on my turret roof,
the old man sat down and let out an oof.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,

Down through the hatch came St. Nick with a bound.
From his old black beret to his Graff jacket worn,
you could tell he's a tanker since the day he was born.
A bundle of FMs he had flung on his back,
He looked like a Mike Golf just opening his pack.
St. Nick is a tanker, in this I have faith,
He reeked of old diesel, had grease on his face.
His demeanor was rude his clothes were a mess,
When his boots last saw polish was anyone's guess.
A cigarette butt is held tight in his teeth,
If I tell him to lose it I might get some grief.
His moustache was too long, it's not by the Reg.
This crusty old Mike Golf sure looked like a dreg.
He was filthy, ill mannered, but a happy old self,
And I knew he would help me in spite of myself.

A wink of his eye and a look in my sight,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to fright.
He spoke not a word but went right to his work,
Boresighted my tank, said "Your gunner's a jerk."
And laying a wrench aside of his nose,
And giving a nod out of the hatch he rose.
He sprang to his copula, gave his driver a curse,
And away his tank roared like he'd just stole a purse.
But I heard him exclaim as he roared ought of sight,
Merry Christmas to all and to all...

DAMMIT DRIVER I SAID TURN RIGHT,
WHAT ARE YOU ............

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 11:52 PM

2015-12-15T23:52:08-05:00

That's great, sending it to my Army brother!

Response by PO1 John Miller made Dec 15 at 2015 11:53 PM

2015-12-15T23:53:02-05:00

The Sailor's Christmas Story

Twas the night before Christmas, the ship was out steaming,
Sailors stood watch while others were dreaming.
They lived in a crowd with racks tight and small,
In a 80-man berthing, cramped one and all.
I had come down the stack with presents to give,
And to see inside just who might perhaps live.
I looked all about, a strange sight did I see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stockings were hung, shined boots close at hand,
On the bulkhead hung pictures of a far distant land.
They had medals and badges and awards of all kind,
And a sober thought came into my mind.
For this place was different, so dark and so dreary,
I had found the house of a Sailor, once I saw clearly.
A Sailor lay sleeping, silent and alone,
Curled up in a rack and dreaming of home.
The face was so gentle, the room squared away,
This was the United States Sailor today.
This was the hero I saw on TV,
Defending our country so we could be free.
I realized the families that I would visit this night,
Owed their lives to these Sailors lay willing to fight.
Soon round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate on Christmas Day.
They all enjoyed freedom each day of the year,
Because of the Sailor, like the one lying here.
I couldn't help wonder how many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas Eve on a sea, far from home.
The very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.
The Sailor awakened and I heard a calm voice,
"Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice."
"Defending the seas all days of the year,
So others may live and be free with no fear."
I thought for a moment, what a difficult road,
To live a life guided by honor and code.
After all it's Christmas Eve and the ship's underway!
But freedom isn't free and it's sailors who pay.
The Sailor says to our country "be free and sleep tight,
No harm will come, not on my watch and not on this night.
The Sailor rolled over and drifted to sleep,
I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.
I kept watch for hours, so silent, so still,
I watched as the Sailor shivered from the night's cold chill.
I didn't want to leave on that cold dark night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.
The Sailor rolled over and with a voice strong and sure,
Commanded, "Carry on Santa, It's Christmas, and All is Secure!"

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Dec 17 at 2015 11:15 AM

2015-12-17T11:15:10-05:00

SFC John Birks Great post and story - unfortunately I don't have one and it's pretty sad about the childish post you received. Thanks for sharing your story and hopefully you will get more grownup responses going forward in the day.

Response by Cpl Rc Layne made Dec 17 at 2015 11:56 AM

2015-12-17T11:56:21-05:00

Google "The Night 3rd Platoon shot down Santa Claus. "

Response by SPC David Glines made Dec 17 at 2015 3:54 PM

2015-12-17T15:54:04-05:00

This is one of my Favs.

Singing 'Silent Night' and calling "We not shoot, you not shoot", German soldiers began the Christmas Truce of World War One, when whole regiments stopped killing each other and played football in no-man's land instead.

"The Germans started it. That's the miracle. For the first time it wasn't the Germans who waged war but stared a peace," Michael Juergs, the first German author to write a book about the legendary ceasefire of December 1914, told Reuters in Berlin.

British troops holding the front line in Flanders on a cold, clear Christmas Eve four months into the war heard 'Stille Nacht' ('Silent Night') being sung across the battlefield littered with frozen corpses.

Clapping

They stared clapping and shouting "more, more". German soldiers ventured their heads above the parapets and put candles along the edge of their trenches, writes Juergs in his book The Little Peace in the Great War, published last month.

It resembled the footlights of a theatre, one British solder recalled.

One German office sang the Scottish ballad 'Annie "We were overwhelmed, as if the war was suddenly over," Juergs quoted a British rifleman, W.A. Quinton, as writing 15 years later.

The office called: "I am a lieutenant, gentlemen, my life is in your hands. I'm outside the trench and walking towards you. Would one of your officers please meet me half way?"

A British sergeant walked up to him and they started talking. Others followed. The news spread rapidly, with British soldiers taking part readily, and French and Belgian troops more hesitantly, writes Juergs.

"It was maybe almost 1,000 soldiers at first. Then word spread by field telephone."

Along the entire 40 kilometres from the Belgian North Sea port of Nieuwpoort to the town of Ypres, soldiers met and arranged not to shoot each other over Christmas.

Juergs matched war diaries and letters from soldiers on both sides to piece together a detailed account of the series of spontaneous armistices that by December 26 had silenced much of the western front from the North Sea to the Swiss border.

They staged joint burials, hunted rabbits, and cooked a pig. One British soldier, a hairdresser by trade, brought out a stool and offered haircuts to all comers for a few cigarettes a time.

It was the first Christmas of a war that has come to epitomize pointless sacrifice on a biblical scale. In over four years an estimated 10 million military personnel were killed in action or listed as missing, with more than 20 million wounded.

"If there had been live television footage at the time and people had seen the pictures of this truce, it would have been the end the war," said Juergs.

Soldiers exchanged food and cigarettes and showed each other photos of their families. A frequent topic was how best to get rid of lice and the rats that plagued them.

They swapped Dresden 'Stollen' Christmas cake and sausages for British jam and whisky. One German infantryman even handed over a Christmas tree with lit candles.

Some French civilians scorned at the fraternization taking place on their invaded soil. Some British troops reported French women spat at them for it.

While many officers took part, the top brass on both sides were outraged, ordering their men back into the trenches and threatening court martial whenever they heard about it.

But soldiers continued to shoot above each other's heads until February on some stretches of the front, said Juergs.

Prussian troops, traditionally the most disciplined in the German army, were less prone to join the armistices than others, such as soldiers from Saxony in what is now eastern Germany.

"We are Saxons, you are Anglo-Saxons, why should we shoot each other?" said one Saxon.

"After the dead had been buried, and because the ground had frozen, hundreds of men played football wildly in uniforms with leather balls which the English supplied, or tins or balls of straw," said Juergs.

The diary of the Lancashire Fusiliers tells of one match the Germans won 3:2, but notes that the third goal should not have been allowed because the scorer was offside, he writes.

British newspapers gave the truce prominent coverage, perhaps because the idea appealed to a British sense of fair play among gentlemen, writes Juergs.

German newspapers largely ignored it, while French papers wrote that French soldiers shouted out "Shut up, German pigs" as soon as the Germans started singing. In fact, whole French regiments took part.

Attempts to repeat the truce a year later rapidly quashed. "In the history of war there had never been such a peace from below. There has never been once since," writes Juergs.

Response by Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth made Dec 17 at 2015 4:04 PM

2015-12-17T16:04:52-05:00

THE SOLDIERS NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.
I had come down the chimney with presents to give
And to see just who in this home did live.

I looked all about a strange sight I did see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand,
On the wall hung pictures of far distant lands.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind
A sober thought came through my mind.
For this house was different, so dark and dreary,
I knew I had found the home of a soldier, once I could see clearly.

I heard stories about them, I had to see more
So I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping silent alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one bedroom home.

His face so gentle, his room in such disorder,
Not how I pictured a United States soldier.
Was this the hero of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean shaven, his weathered face tan,
I soon understood this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night
Owed their lives to these men who were willing to fight.

Soon ‘round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom each month of the year,
Because of soldiers like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone
On a cold Christmas Eve in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.

The soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice,
"Santa don’t cry, this life is my choice;
I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more,
my life is my God, my country, my Corps."

With that he rolled over and drifted off into sleep,
I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.
I watched him for hours, so silent and still,
I noticed he shivered from the cold night’s chill.

So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
And I covered this Soldier from his toes to his head.
And I put on his T-shirt of gray and black,
With an eagle and an Army patch embroidered on back.

And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
And for a shining moment, I was United States Army deep inside.
I didn’t want to leave him on that cold dark night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over, whispered with a voice so clean and pure,
"Carry on Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all is secure."
One look at my watch, and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, and to all a good night!

Response by MSgt Marvin Kinderknecht made Jan 3 at 2016 8:46 PM

2016-01-03T20:46:15-05:00

Beautiful. As a flight engineer on KB-50J Refueler's we were also "tankers". Just the airborne types. If I went Army, my choice would be tanks. You goto love em.