mgjim
12-22-2012, 07:44 PM
My most memorable Christmas took place 40 years ago and it was my first Christmas away from my family. Here's what happened:
In 1972, I was a single GI stationed near the DMZ in Korea. On Christmas Eve, my name came up to be the staff duty NCO that night. There was nothing unusual about being the duty NCO as I had performed that duty many times before. Basically, I had to monitor phone calls from around the 2nd Infantry Division relating to serious incidents taking place in the division, coordinate with the Red Cross to notify division soldiers and their families in the states when a family emergency existed, and provide plane tickets to division soldiers who needed to be home with their families during emergencies. Most of the times before, the phone hardly rang and it was just a good opportunity to catch up on my reading or even to catch up on a little sleep.
This particular night turned out not to be so normal. Since it was Christmas Eve, everyone got off work a little early so I had to report for duty earlier than normal. That meant that I missed Christmas Eve dinner at the mess hall; dinner for me that night was a bag of potato chips, a Snickers bar, and about 10 cups of coffee.
The first Red Cross call came in before nightfall. A soldier’s mother had suffered a massive heart attack and died while decorating the family Christmas tree. I had to notify the soldier’s unit of the event and prepare airline tickets so he could be home in time for the funeral. I don’t think I was very supportive when the soldier arrived to pick up his ticket and travel instructions. I just didn’t know what to say to him.
Later, I received a phone call from the MP station at one of the outlying military compounds regarding an incident at a local bar. A group of GIs were celebrating Christmas when a fight broke out. A couple of MPs showed up to break up the fight when one of the guys grabbed an MPs sidearm and two rounds were fired. The MP suffered a minor wound to his thigh but the drunken GI took a round through his liver, spleen, and stomach. He was expected to live but had to be airlifted to the main military hospital in Seoul. Red Cross was called so they could notify the families in the States, the division commander had to be called away from his staff Christmas party, and I had to continue to pass messages for the next several hours.
After things began to settle down at around 3 or 4 in the morning, I received a call from the Red Cross about a soldier’s father who committed suicide. Again, I had to notify the soldier’s unit and make arrangements for him to travel back to his home in the States. That was the hardest phone call of them all.
By 9:00 AM on Christmas Day, I was exhausted and just wanted to go straight to bed. I knew that my barracks roommates had probably been out celebrating the night before and that they were very likely sleeping in that morning and didn’t want to be bothered. When I got back to my barracks room, I found a Christmas card addressed to me along with a couple of other items.
The Christmas card from my roommates came with this message:
“We heard you had a bad night. We’ll get out of your way so you can catch some sleep but we’ll be back later today if you want to celebrate Christmas together. In the meantime, we had the mess sergeant prepare this Christmas dinner for you and this bottle of Jack Daniels is for you too. Merry Christmas!”
I’ll never forget that Christmas as long as I live.
In 1972, I was a single GI stationed near the DMZ in Korea. On Christmas Eve, my name came up to be the staff duty NCO that night. There was nothing unusual about being the duty NCO as I had performed that duty many times before. Basically, I had to monitor phone calls from around the 2nd Infantry Division relating to serious incidents taking place in the division, coordinate with the Red Cross to notify division soldiers and their families in the states when a family emergency existed, and provide plane tickets to division soldiers who needed to be home with their families during emergencies. Most of the times before, the phone hardly rang and it was just a good opportunity to catch up on my reading or even to catch up on a little sleep.
This particular night turned out not to be so normal. Since it was Christmas Eve, everyone got off work a little early so I had to report for duty earlier than normal. That meant that I missed Christmas Eve dinner at the mess hall; dinner for me that night was a bag of potato chips, a Snickers bar, and about 10 cups of coffee.
The first Red Cross call came in before nightfall. A soldier’s mother had suffered a massive heart attack and died while decorating the family Christmas tree. I had to notify the soldier’s unit of the event and prepare airline tickets so he could be home in time for the funeral. I don’t think I was very supportive when the soldier arrived to pick up his ticket and travel instructions. I just didn’t know what to say to him.
Later, I received a phone call from the MP station at one of the outlying military compounds regarding an incident at a local bar. A group of GIs were celebrating Christmas when a fight broke out. A couple of MPs showed up to break up the fight when one of the guys grabbed an MPs sidearm and two rounds were fired. The MP suffered a minor wound to his thigh but the drunken GI took a round through his liver, spleen, and stomach. He was expected to live but had to be airlifted to the main military hospital in Seoul. Red Cross was called so they could notify the families in the States, the division commander had to be called away from his staff Christmas party, and I had to continue to pass messages for the next several hours.
After things began to settle down at around 3 or 4 in the morning, I received a call from the Red Cross about a soldier’s father who committed suicide. Again, I had to notify the soldier’s unit and make arrangements for him to travel back to his home in the States. That was the hardest phone call of them all.
By 9:00 AM on Christmas Day, I was exhausted and just wanted to go straight to bed. I knew that my barracks roommates had probably been out celebrating the night before and that they were very likely sleeping in that morning and didn’t want to be bothered. When I got back to my barracks room, I found a Christmas card addressed to me along with a couple of other items.
The Christmas card from my roommates came with this message:
“We heard you had a bad night. We’ll get out of your way so you can catch some sleep but we’ll be back later today if you want to celebrate Christmas together. In the meantime, we had the mess sergeant prepare this Christmas dinner for you and this bottle of Jack Daniels is for you too. Merry Christmas!”
I’ll never forget that Christmas as long as I live.