[Rhodes22-list] Fw: A Different Christmas Poem

[Brad Haslett]

Claude,

Thank you! The 'Boys' had a good week last week.  You'll never read
about it in the MSM (article attached).

Brad

--------------

Marine Makes Insurgents Pay the Price
November 18, 2008
Marine Corps News|by Cpl. James M. Mercure

FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan — In the city of Shewan, approximately 250
insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.

Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to
plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk
district.

The city is home to several major insurgent leaders. Reports indicate
that more than 250 full time fighters reside in the city and in the
surrounding villages.

Shewan had been a thorn in the side of Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th
Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force
Afghanistan throughout the Marines' deployment here in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom, because it controls an important supply
route into the Bala Baluk district. Opening the route was key to
continuing combat operations in the area.

"The day started out with a 10-kilometer patrol with elements mounted
and dismounted, so by the time we got to Shewan, we were pretty beat,"
said a designated marksman who requested to remain unidentified. "Our
vehicles came under a barrage of enemy RPGs (rocket propelled
grenades) and machine gun fire. One of our 'humvees' was disabled from
RPG fire, and the Marines inside dismounted and laid down suppression
fire so they could evacuate a Marine who was knocked unconscious from
the blast."

The vicious attack that left the humvee destroyed and several of the
Marines pinned down in the kill zone sparked an intense eight-hour
battle as the platoon desperately fought to recover their comrades.
After recovering the Marines trapped in the kill zone, another platoon
sergeant personally led numerous attacks on enemy fortified positions
while the platoon fought house to house and trench to trench in order
to clear through the enemy ambush site.

"The biggest thing to take from that day is what Marines can
accomplish when they're given the opportunity to fight," the sniper
said. "A small group of Marines met a numerically superior force and
embarrassed them in their own backyard. The insurgents told the
townspeople that they were stronger than the Americans, and that day
we showed them they were wrong."

During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a
company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20
enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He
selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during
a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill
any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the
Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive
was the fact that he didn't miss any shots, despite the enemies'
rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

"I was in my own little world," the young corporal said. "I wasn't
even aware of a lot of the rounds impacting near my position, because
I was concentrating so hard on making sure my rounds were on target."

After calling for close-air support, the small group of Marines pushed
forward and broke the enemies' spirit as many of them dropped their
weapons and fled the battlefield. At the end of the battle, the
Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50
insurgents and wounded several more.

"I didn't realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken
through the enemies' lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly
250 insurgents against 30 of us," the corporal said. "It was a good
day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our
guys were seriously injured."
(c) Copyright 2008 Marine Corps News. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 6:32 PM, Claude  Cox <ccc974 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hank,
>
> Sorry about that....I'll send it again.  If you don't get it this time, my guess is that my IP (Comcast) stripped it because it is a pretty long file--full-page pic, and considerable script.  Hope it works this time.
>
> Claude
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marshall and Anne McLaughlin
> To: Jane Ball ; Tmk9r at aol.com ; Ann and Bill Robertson ; Nancy Cox ; Claude Cox ; Susan Callaway ; Trish Bolton ; Bob Messner
> Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 5:55 PM
> Subject: Fw: A Different Christmas Poem
>
>
> this is very moving...Anne
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Phillip Griffin
> To: 'Angela Pollock'
> Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 5:37 PM
> Subject: FW: 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 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
>
>
>
>
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