“Merry Christmas, My Friend” by James M. Schmidt

I’ve always loved this poem, and heard the altered to soldier version on the radio the other day.  So, I looked up the origional, and found it, the story behind it, as well as the youtube clip to listen to the beautiful reading of the more military branch neutral version.  Enjoy my friends. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas, My Friend

By James M. Schmidt, a Marine Lance Corporal stationed in Washington, D.C., in 1986, as printed in ‘Leatherneck’ back in 1991:

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.

I had come down the chimney, with presents to give
and to see just who in this home did live

As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,
no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind,
a sobering thought soon came to my mind.
For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen.
This was the home of a U.S. Marine.

I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more,
so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.

He seemed so gentle, his face so serene,
Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.
Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.
I soon understood, this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night,
owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.

Soon around the Nation, the children would play,
And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,
because of Marines like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.
I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.

He must have awoken, for 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."

With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,
I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.

I watched him for hours, so silent and still.
I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill.
So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.

Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold,
with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.
And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.

I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night,
this guardian of honor so willing to fight.
But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure,
said "Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."

One look at my watch and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ABOUT "MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY FRIEND"

(from gospelweb.net)  Thanks to Brett Kramer, who wrote us yesterday with the correct information, we have learned that the beautiful poem sent to us some years ago by one of our "web friends" is a modified copy of the original circulated on the internet for some years. The original poem's true author, James M. Schmidt, was a Lance Corporal stationed in Washington, D.C., when he wrote the poem back in 1986.

The true story of the poem, as told by Lance Corporal Schmidt: "While a Lance Corporal serving as Battalion Counter Sniper at the Marine Barracks 8th & I, Washington, DC, under Commandant P.X. Kelly and Battalion Commander D.J. Myers [in 1986], I wrote this poem to hang on the door of the Gym in the BEQ. When Colonel Myers came upon it, he read it and immediately had copies sent to each department at the Barracks and promptly dismissed the entire Battalion early for Christmas leave. The poem was placed that day in the Marine Corps Gazette, distributed worldwide and later submitted to Leatherneck Magazine."

Schmidt's original version, entitled "Merry Christmas, My Friend," was published in Leatherneck (Magazine of the Marines) in December 1991, a full two years before it was supposedly "written" by someone else on Christmas Eve 1993 (and had appeared in the Barracks publication Pass in Review four years before it was printed in Leatherneck).

As Leatherneck wrote of the poem's author in 2003: "Merry Christmas, My Friend" has been a holiday favorite among "leatherneckphiles" for nearly the time it takes to complete a Marine Corps career. Few, however, know who wrote it and when. Former Corporal James M. Schmidt, stationed at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., pounded it out 17 years ago on a typewriter while awaiting the commanding officer's Christmas holiday decorations inspection . . . while other leathernecks strung lights for the Barracks' annual Christmas decoration contest, Schmidt contributed his poem to his section."

Over the years the text of "Merry Christmas, My Friend" has been altered to change the Marine-specific wording into Army references (including the title: U.S. Marines do not refer to themselves as "soldiers") and to incorporate line-ending rhyme changes necessitated by those alterations.

Reports are that after leaving the Corps, Corporal Schmidt earned a law degree and now serves as an attorney in Los Angeles and is director of operations for a security consulting firm.

The following clip is a reading of “A Soldiers Silent Night” by a former Marine.  This is an altered version of the origional poem posted above.

Now up and running . . . Mom’s Brain

IN the interest of self preservation, and crossing my fingers to salvage at least an ounce of my sanity during this school year, I have chosen to take my brain, and put in into a physical, visual, color-coded, interactive format to better assist me in keeping up with all the crazies that live under my roof.

Any an all information anyone feels needs some “Mom attention” must be submitted in writing and then deposited into either the file slot of said child, OR attached to the white board.  The white board also is for phone notes, information from my husband OR my sister, seeing I need to keep track of where they need to be and when.  They don’t get file slots due to the fact they won’t be coming home with ALL sorts of papers and packets from school I’ll need to see, sign, and return to slot for them to pick up and return to school.

Each child has their own color.  It is reflected in many ways, including their magnets to hold notes on white board, their own colored dry erase marker, AND their own pad of post it notes!!  What are the chances that THEE 5 colors we assigned the kids would come in ONE pack of post-its.  So glad.  Funny enough, the color assignments came from the need to stop going thru SO many cups each day with everyone home.  I found the 2 for $1 at Wal-Mart, and got each of the kids a 2-pack of cups.  This color coding is already working out GREAT!! You never have to wonder what is who’s.  Hey, we even got computer thumb drives in the right colors for each of the kids. 

So, once important things are submitted, I am the ONLY calendar enterer person that can enter ANYTHING onto the calendar or attach it to the cork board.

I will NEVER be able to put into words how happy I am to have finally gotten this all UP and how eager I am to get it RUNNING.  I don’t need to remember, I just need to LOOK as I’m passing by with a load of laundry, or off to drop someone’s stuff in their room, etc.

 

Some day I’ll get on the ball with this blog…

…but for today, I’m just going to hit the recent highlights. 

School is out in a few days.  It’s weird to say that because I was just out of town for 10 days visiting my bestest friend Stephanie and her family.  I was there for their last week of school, Em’s graduation,   and then home I came. 

Now MY kids are taking finals, having their fun days, and doing the final countdown.  Weird déjà vu.

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Our garden is growing very well.  (this pic is from about a month ago…it’s grown SO much bigger)Robbie supervised it’s care while I was away, and everyone enjoyed the first 2 zucchini squash cooked up with dinner a couple days after I came home.  YUMMY!!! The cherry tomatoes are looking good (2 are nearly ready to pick already with LOTS more close behind) and we even have 2 cantaloupe growing.  I haven’t counted how many more zucchini or how many beefsteak tomatoes are growing, but the whole family is finding great satisfaction is watching this all thrive and tastes pretty darned good so far.

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Randy had his Junior Prom a couple of weeks ago.  He and Shelli looked GREAT and had a marveloso time with Jenna & Eric. Our little boy’s all growed up.

 

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Jason started 2 college courses: algebra and psychology.  There are some days it just wears him out to have to use THAT much brain power, and he gets so frustrated with his memory problems, but he is determined to do this and do it the best he can.  I think HE will need a good long vacation after these classes wrap up.

The end of this week, Jason will be having his surgery to hopefully stop his acid reflux that has been wreaking havoc on his esophagus for over a decade now.:

“Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (commonly referred to as Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication) involves reinforcing the "valve" between the esophagus and the stomach by wrapping the upper portion of the stomach around the lowest portion of the esophagus - much the way a bun wraps around a hot dog.”

I’m sure all will go well, but please keep him in your prayers.

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Next big thing for Jason is that he is awaiting the arrival of his working dog.  He is getting a psychological working dog, and this should do good things to help keep him calmer and (how do I put this without sounding like he’s a little kid?  I can’t)… basically I won’t have to be out with him a large majority of the time so he can manage being in public.  The dog will be his companion so he can maintain longer stretches of independence without the anxiety or depression and especially the ‘war zone’ mentality taking over.  I want Jason to be as independent as he can for as long as he can.  Much as I love spending lots of time with him, he needs to continue to feel as productive as possible, knowing his injuries haven’t stolen everything from him. 

Once the dog arrives I’ll do my darndest to post pictures :O).  oh, and due to the impending arrival of the new dog, we worked hard and found a wonderful new home for our precious Baby Grrrl.  I didn’t want her to be lacking in attention, but more importantly, I didn’t want either dog to lack in care – and pets are expensive.  SO, she is now with a great woman, keeping her company while her husband is deployed and she is expecting a little baby girl.  So our Baby Grrrl will grow up with their Baby Girl ;o).  She’s getting lots of beach time, and apparently LOVES it, so much as I miss my little spazzy shadow, I know she is in good hands.

OHhh yeah, and Robbie managed to hurt her foot while I was away, and my dear sweet hubbie didn’t want to hinder my ability to enjoy my trip, so I found out when I got home from the airport and saw her foot/leg all wrapped up.  LOL.  The kids were SO sure I was gonna be MAAAAAAaaaaaAAADD that dad didn’t tell me.  Have they not learned, I can only shake my head, roll my eyes, and say “WHAT happened???”  So far, doesn’t look like anything’s broken.  A wave slammed her at a bit of an odd way and she had her toes bent WAY too far with the rest of the foot still jamming forward.  ouchie.  Then, a few days later, even though her foot was a LITTLE hurt still (probably more then a little) it was field day at her school, and she HAD to participate in the events she had signed up for.  She just couldn’t let the class down.  Then, well, she wanted to hurry home to get OFF the foot, so she – in her infinite wisdom- RAN home.  OYE!! What’s a mom to do??

 

Let’s see, Curtis, Craigan & Zyzax are all doing well.  Nothing major to report with them, which is kind of a good thing.  whew.

I did make the little boys new drawstring backpacks before I went on vacation…. here they are, more then happy to show them off.  :o)