Posted on Nov 28, 2015
What is your most memorable Christmas while deployed?
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We sure didn't have the wherewithal all to decorate our hooches like this in Vietnam, but one of the parents of one of my men owned an Italian restaurant in Indianapolis and they sent all the table decorations and stuff to make a helluva Christmas dinner. I and my driver stole a case of frozen steaks from the ration break down point at Long Binh and I horse traded at the mess hall for a lot of other "necessities". The young man who had grown up working in the family restaurant worked his buns off setting it all up and we had a very Merry Christmas despite missing friends and family at home. The leftovers (and they were ample) were donated to an orphanage at Ton Son Nhut. We also stuffed stockings for the orphans with everything we could find as well as small gifts our families sent from home. It became a contest to see who could make the biggest stocking. Have you ever stuffed an Army issue wool sock? They expanded so large that most were taller than the kids. That was Christmas 1967. The Tet Offensive began less than two months later...
We sure didn't have the wherewithal all to decorate our hooches like this in Vietnam, but one of the parents of one of my men owned an Italian restaurant in Indianapolis and they sent all the table decorations and stuff to make a helluva Christmas dinner. I and my driver stole a case of frozen steaks from the ration break down point at Long Binh and I horse traded at the mess hall for a lot of other "necessities". The young man who had grown up working in the family restaurant worked his buns off setting it all up and we had a very Merry Christmas despite missing friends and family at home. The leftovers (and they were ample) were donated to an orphanage at Ton Son Nhut. We also stuffed stockings for the orphans with everything we could find as well as small gifts our families sent from home. It became a contest to see who could make the biggest stocking. Have you ever stuffed an Army issue wool sock? They expanded so large that most were taller than the kids. That was Christmas 1967. The Tet Offensive began less than two months later...
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 175
Probably my most memorable was serving on an isolated duty station 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle. When I say isolated, I mean isolated. We rarely saw or talked to anyone outside of the 2o or so men on the crew. Entertainment was movies, cards, ping pong, B Ball in a "gym" where the roof was so low you had to shoot between the rafters, and assorted hobbies. (Wood shop, Darkroom, and ... umm never mind, that was about it.) OH and of course log flights on those occasions when the weather was good enough for them to land.
Anyway, we had the usual festivities, and a really good meal, Turkey with all the trimmings, along with a ration of "medicinal" brandy). What I remember though took place later that night on watch. We were a LORAN station, and also had a VOR, mostly we were there to provide a navigation fix for BUFFs flying alerts, but we also conducted basic weather observations and provided a check in site for commercial aircraft flying the Great Circle Route from Europe. So there I am, doing my hourly readings, and listening for our call signs on about 12 different frequencies we guarded from LF through UHF. An SAS flight called to check in, and the pilot said he had a special message for me. I was then treated to several stewardesses singing Jingle Bells and White Christmas with their wonderful Swedish accents. They then wished us a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Truthfully they could have sung anything and it would have been wonderful just to hear a woman's voice, but to this day I can close my eyes and hear them, and a smile comes to my face.
Anyway, we had the usual festivities, and a really good meal, Turkey with all the trimmings, along with a ration of "medicinal" brandy). What I remember though took place later that night on watch. We were a LORAN station, and also had a VOR, mostly we were there to provide a navigation fix for BUFFs flying alerts, but we also conducted basic weather observations and provided a check in site for commercial aircraft flying the Great Circle Route from Europe. So there I am, doing my hourly readings, and listening for our call signs on about 12 different frequencies we guarded from LF through UHF. An SAS flight called to check in, and the pilot said he had a special message for me. I was then treated to several stewardesses singing Jingle Bells and White Christmas with their wonderful Swedish accents. They then wished us a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Truthfully they could have sung anything and it would have been wonderful just to hear a woman's voice, but to this day I can close my eyes and hear them, and a smile comes to my face.
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In Naples the local people invited a bunch of us sailors to their homes for Christmas dinner.Great food,people,and fun.The Grandma would try to feed you until you burst.Then on New Years eve you would want to walk in the middle of the road because at midnight they would throw used furniture out the windows.
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CPO John Bjorge
YES, "Out with the old and in with the new". Fireworks everywhere from as far south and north as you could see. Seemed like and aerial borage and went on for a couple of hours. Saw it from the bay on my first trip and from a Hotel on my second.
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Probably 2007 or 2009 when I deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq for battlefield circulation with the 82nd Airborne Division's All-American Chorus. Both times, we were either, rocketed, mortared, shot at with pistols & AKs, IED'd, VBIED'd, and/or RPG'd at in a UH-60. We survived and we put smiles on faces downrange while also returning fire to dumbasses trying to take us out. I even got to call in a successful fire mission. It made us late for one of our next missions, but the BN CDR, BN CSM, and senior understood. As much as our Division CG hated us, we all got commander's coins for our actions. What we did warranted CABs, but like I said...our CG hated us. I also got to meet more famous people, such as Gary Sinise & The Lt. Dan Band, John Topper from Blues Traveler, and a number of other celebrities both times. The extra money I received helped out when I got back, too.
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Christmas we pulled into Gibraltar and Spent the day at a pub that the owner invited us to dinner.
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For my first duty station, I landed Camp Pelham, in South Korea near the end of 1994. Finally assigned to my unit, and totally unprepared for all my new found freedom as a soldier and as a young man. I was easily talked into heading off camp for a few drinks with a few seasoned soldiers: a couple E2 and a PFC. And Specialist Ammes.
What I expected to be a festive introduction was more like a poorly planned yet effective hazing. Bar to bar, drink after drink, and repeat. At 19 years old I slammed everything placed in front of me. Until I passed out. And that's how I stayed until the loudest explosion I had ever heard shocked me awake.
It was 0600 the following morning. Yep! Cannon blast, then reveille as the flag was raised. As it was Christmas Eve, the Sergeant Major was up and observing the detail. I hadn't been noticed until the blast jumped me because I was placed in a mock manger with a baby Jesus and crew. I stood there as this Sergeant Major locked on me. I didn't know him but I knew by his glare that I has hit! Suddenly, there was a tug on my arm and I was off runnings, with Spec. Ammes leading and maybe laughing? Ducking into a barracks door and up the stairs Ammes slid under his bed and pointed to the other for me. Wide eyed and gut sick petrified I lay there with only the worst possible endings unfold, and some ones smelly sneakers while Spec. Ammes slept. Soundly. Till 14:00. Ammes remained amused I over the situation while I had visions of a firing squad.
In front of the Sergeant Major we picked up two weeks before extra duty and loss of pass priv.
On Christmas day feeling like the biggest dirtbag, I headed to the mess hall expecting to be shamed by my fellow soldiers, only to find the opposite. Christmas day with my platoon laughing hysterically as we retold the tale over and over.
Thanks. TV
What I expected to be a festive introduction was more like a poorly planned yet effective hazing. Bar to bar, drink after drink, and repeat. At 19 years old I slammed everything placed in front of me. Until I passed out. And that's how I stayed until the loudest explosion I had ever heard shocked me awake.
It was 0600 the following morning. Yep! Cannon blast, then reveille as the flag was raised. As it was Christmas Eve, the Sergeant Major was up and observing the detail. I hadn't been noticed until the blast jumped me because I was placed in a mock manger with a baby Jesus and crew. I stood there as this Sergeant Major locked on me. I didn't know him but I knew by his glare that I has hit! Suddenly, there was a tug on my arm and I was off runnings, with Spec. Ammes leading and maybe laughing? Ducking into a barracks door and up the stairs Ammes slid under his bed and pointed to the other for me. Wide eyed and gut sick petrified I lay there with only the worst possible endings unfold, and some ones smelly sneakers while Spec. Ammes slept. Soundly. Till 14:00. Ammes remained amused I over the situation while I had visions of a firing squad.
In front of the Sergeant Major we picked up two weeks before extra duty and loss of pass priv.
On Christmas day feeling like the biggest dirtbag, I headed to the mess hall expecting to be shamed by my fellow soldiers, only to find the opposite. Christmas day with my platoon laughing hysterically as we retold the tale over and over.
Thanks. TV
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I was away from home every christmas (1963-67) but since then I have had great Christmases.
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Mine was thanksgiving 63 or 64 we were aggressors for the 10th special forces and deployed in the Alps along the Austrian border. Someone decided we should have a real Thanksgiving dinner so they dropped in whole frozen turkeys and other raw and canned ingredients. Not the best but surely the most memorable. Just a reinforced rifle platoon wit nothing to prepare food.
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1965 AnKhe center highlands supporting 1st Cav with ammo. Living in tents . !he army supplied us with a small Christmas tree and a few decorations. Looked out of place over there. I don't think our Christmas dinner was to great. We had a better thanksgiving dinner. We didn't have much of a messhall no reefers to keep thing cold. what we ate was mostly powdered or canned. to this day I don't eat spam. That was our main diet of meat 10lb. cans of spam. Semper Fi.
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There were so many Christmases I spent deployed, it's hard to answer the question. It was 1992 where the group of us decided the new Air Mobility Command really stood for Another Missed Christmas.
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My most memorable one was not filled with joyful memories. For me, it was horrific.
I was a USN E-5. Due to VC threats to kill any Americans, they saw everything was off-limits. I had been in-country a little over six months and was highly agitated about the curfew and having to wait to be shot before shooting (my interpretation of the Rules of Engagement).
I decided if I were going to die there, it would be on my terms. I donned all my combat gear. I had an M1911 on my hip and an M-14 locked and loaded.
The streets were empty. I walked the center of the main street in Vinh Long screaming every rude and insulting thing I could think of in Vietnamese, and when I exhausted that, I continued in English.
An hour or so later, seeing no one around, I stood at the traffic circle, yelled out, "I'm going to live!", then got off the street.
I was a USN E-5. Due to VC threats to kill any Americans, they saw everything was off-limits. I had been in-country a little over six months and was highly agitated about the curfew and having to wait to be shot before shooting (my interpretation of the Rules of Engagement).
I decided if I were going to die there, it would be on my terms. I donned all my combat gear. I had an M1911 on my hip and an M-14 locked and loaded.
The streets were empty. I walked the center of the main street in Vinh Long screaming every rude and insulting thing I could think of in Vietnamese, and when I exhausted that, I continued in English.
An hour or so later, seeing no one around, I stood at the traffic circle, yelled out, "I'm going to live!", then got off the street.
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One of the soldiers had the Jewish holidays off. When it came time for Christians to celebrate Christmas he took Christmas off as it was a national holiday. We worked both for him.
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As a US Navy veteran from the Viet Nam time period I was stationed on Guam. Our aircraft did deploy to Viet Nam. Not being part of an aircrew I really don't know what their mission was. I hope that they helped protect the personal on the ground. I became friends with a aircrew person from the station on Guam. During the Christmas time they did Santa drops for the dependent children that were there. Here is the only photo I took during one of those drops. This was December 1969.
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Santa Clause in the Hofbrau House in Munich, Germany with an Oommpah pah band.
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I was a medic with Bravo Co. 2/501st, 101 Airborne in Vietnam, 69-70. I recall we were just back from the field, at FB Bastogne for Christmas. That evening everyone was celebrating and kind of hanging loose. I walked all around the whole hill and where ever I went there was the smell and really a cloud of marijuana haze covering the whole place. It was awesome.
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Kneeling in the sand with about 30 Marines, Airmen, and Soldiers while a Catholic Priest Chaplain gave us a brief eulogy on Christmas morning. Mogadishu, Somalia. Ruins of the former US embassy compound. Marine snipers on the roof gave us over watch.seemed surreal.
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Christmas 1969 I was in Phu Hep, RVN. I had guard duty Christmas eve, in the rain. I sat there in my poncho thinking about my family back home. It was my first Christmas away from my family. I can't explain it, but I had a different outlook on my life up to that point ( it wasn't good ) and I think I became a better person after that night. In a lot of ways, it was the best Christmas of my life up to that point.
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I was in Long Binh the same year the same year. Cookies from home and the Bob Hope show was the best Christmas ever. Then the Tet offensive happened 2 months later.
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