The Greatest Christmas (Part III)

The is always a man or two who prides himself on his bar-b-q prowess, and an Army Intelligence Unit is no different. We had plenty of volunteers to cut up and prepare the chicken. Fortunately, the main HQ allowed those guys to raid the mess area and come up with as many spices as they could. Those chickens were marinated in some sort of rudimentary pot, and lord knows what spices were in there. Frankly, I don't think anyone really cared. About 4:30 pm, just as the sun was ready to settle in and the guys were still preparing the meal, a 2 1/2 ton truck from Battalion HQ pulled up on our site. In the back of that truck were probably 20 people, dressed up in all sorts of clothing from desert camouflage to elf hats they had been sent from home. The Battalion Commander himself was in the back, sporting a full tilt Santa costume, complete with beard, black belt, jacket, pants and hat. The truck came to a stop, and everyone in the back started to sing Christmas carols. "We wish you a merry Christmas", "Hark the herald angels sing", "Jingle Bells" and a whole bunch more. Santa had a big sack filled with jolly rancher and starburst candies, and he would throw them down to us as the truck slowly moved through our compound, singing all along and making it's way over the far dune to another unit. As I stopped for a second looking up at the back of the large truck, instead turning my head around and looking at my friends and compatriots, I saw a happiness in every single eye...a happiness normally reserved for the 6 year olds when they come downstairs on Christmas morning and see that Santa is real. He must be right? He came in silently in the night and left me presents. It was at that moment that I realized for the first time in my life Santa is as real as the nose on your face. If he could stand in the back of a camouflaged truck throwing candy, singing songs, and making the desperately tired and scared light up with joy, then I knew right then there is - and always had been - a Santa Clause.

The night was starting to fall, and we were all anxiously awaiting eating real food for the first time since last summer. The guys who volunteered to cook did so without a whimper, and we all ate...and ate....and ate. But we did so slowly. We devoured the potato chips, and sucked down the semi-warm Pepsi's. Practically every person ate two whole chickens themselves, and in the only instance I've ever known before or since - no one asked for white or dark meat. It was all good, and nothing went to waste.

Hours went by, and we kept the fire burning through the night. We suspended guard duty until after midnight, a bonus since even though we were in Saudi, guard and security was still a high priority. We had a mechanic who could play the guitar and sing in our unit, and he mixed in songs like Charlie Daniel's "Uneasy Rider" with "God rest ye merry gentlemen". As the huge fire crackled and the sky opened it's blackness to the brilliance of 10 billion desert stars, the 40 or so of us sat around and sang terribly out of tune for hour after hour. We cracked the chem-lights, all green, yellow, amber, and purple hanging from the tents, and they provided a type of Christmas decoration never before or since seen by me. The time moved towards midnight, and at about 11:55 pm, we all sang "Silent Night". The tears flowed pretty easily at this point, the young and the old...filled with dreams and aspirations just like anyone else. But they weren't all tears of sadness. There was an unspoken message that each and every soldier clearly understood. These are my friends, one and all - to include those that under other circumstances may not ever be my friends. But here, they are. The song waned away, and was finally finished. In complete silence, we all knew it was time to get back to work. Water and sand was thrown on the fire, people headed for guard shift or back to their tents. Others just silently hugged and let others know they would be there when and if the time came to really be there for each other.

Yes. There once was a time.

Sleep in heavenly peace, we sang softly during a single moment in that time.
Sleep. In Heavenly peace.