In support of the Illinois National Guard 233rd Military Police on deployment in Baghdad, Iraq December 2003 (If you've seen this, it's worth reading again.) (Take a minute to honor those in harms way.) A Soldiers Poem... TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THEY LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND 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 MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS. WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND. FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY. THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE, CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME. THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER, NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER. WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ? CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED? I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT, OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT. SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY. THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE. I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE, ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME. 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." THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP. I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL. I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT. THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED, "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,"

This poem is a reworked version from the original which was written by Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt stationed in Washington DC in 1986. (This request was not his but was added throughout the years and seems very appropriate.) The following is his request... 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.

I'd like to thank my talented staff for incorporating this "Soldiers Poem" in to this web-page so that we at Blastcomm could share it with you. With our Sons and Daughters, Husbands and Wifes, Mothers and Fathers, Nieces and Nephews, Boyfriends and Girlfriends, Fiancees, and Friends serving in Harms way, I'd like to personally thank each of them for their courage, sacrifice and service. I'd like to thank each of you for your thoughts and prayers for every Soldier. It is these Soldiers that make possible our great nation. God Bless America, God Bless the American Soldier. It is with a tear in my eye, a pain in my heart, a prayer on my lips, and great pride I tell you... I am the proud father of an American Soldier serving with the Illinois National Guard 233rd MPs in Baghdad, Iraq. (Dec 2003) I am the proud Uncle of an American Soldier serving with the 4th Armored Division in Northern Iraq. (Dec 2003) I am the proud Uncle of an American Soldier in training with the Minnesota National Guard, Infantry. (Dec 2003) Wishing you and yours a safe Holiday Season. Doug Watkins President, Blast Communications, Inc.