A thought for the heroes not with us at xmas.

[67688c]

My daughter emailed me this 2 days ago and thought I would share it with you, my daughter's husband is a marine and left 2 weeks ago for a nine month tour. This time round he is the doc aboard the HMS Portland , cant tell you where they are now for security reasons, his last posting was fort Bastion where he was one of the mid ranking medical docs. Only been land based for a short time on his return to UK before this posting on ship.

So this xmas lets give a thought to all our brave servicemen who are away from their families at this time of year.

A Different Christmas Poem

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."

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
Armed 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.

Chris Smith
(Skipatrol)
Royal Marine Ret

[Sean-2.2Direct]

very nice

[brifen]

Nice Poem, my support and thoughts are with them all.

They do a fantastic job.

Bri.

[Ralph wiggum]

Very Nice Indeed

[bigmac]

very nice they dont get enough credit imho

[67688c]

very nice they dont get enough credit imho

No they don't. I've actually been emailing loads of the better jokes from the jokes/humour section of the site, as I sent my son-in-law a few jokes a while ago and they replied asking for loads more..lol One good thing, is we have'nt had to pay this year to post our xmas parcels out. Its free.. yippee.

What I find so upsetting, about our current serving troops, is that few in the country care a damm, when one of them is killed, only people who really care are their own families who have to suffer their loss.

When I look around at all the sc*m that we have now in the UK, and the way our society has decended into decadent anarchy, I feel that the loss and sacrifice of one single life of our brave boys is simply not worth it.
Never in our history has so much sc*m owed so much to so few, sorry m8's I feel really bitter seeing what the UK has become.

[GoldenWonder]

When I look around at all the sc*m that we have now in the UK, and the way our society has decended into decadent anarchy, I feel that the loss and sacrifice of one single life of our brave boys is simply not worth it.
Never in our history has so much sc*m owed so much to so few, sorry m8's I feel really bitter seeing what the UK has become.

Here here. I look at the proud guys marching at the Cenotaph on Rememberance Day and I wonder if they look at society today and think 'we fought for THIS?'

Thing is though, They have the dignity and stoicism (spelling?) to put us all to shame!