Your most memorable gift

[RJW]

Sitting with a bunch vets this week, bourbon and cigars of course. The discussion is usually pretty lively, delving into politics and just about any subject that will get the blood pressure up. We started to talk about the Christmas deployments, and especially spending Chritmas Eve or Christmas Day in the field.

Everyone in the small group stopped and thought for a couple seconds in some unusual silence. The discussion then turned to little things they had taken with them to give to their comrades and things they they had received. One remembered the little cans of fruit cocktail that a guy had humped along for days. Another mentioned the pair of dry socks his best friend had given him. The only pair or new dry socks in miles.

My most memorable gift was a brass star that my Cpl had cut from the a piece of 7.61x51 brass. Not very big, but so special at the time. It was the only ornament on our "tree" that day. That Cpl got his third stripe and transferred to another unit. He never made it home. That star was carried on every deployment over 20 years. It has hung on some really poor excuses for a Christmas tree. It will again hang on my tree this year.
It does not take much to make a long lasting memory

 

[Redmanss]

Re: Your most memorable gift

That brings back some memories of my own. Best gift was in 2001, freezing my ass off in Afghanistan for Christmas. We pushed out on float 6 days after my son, first child, was born. Mail was really sucking for a long time, but someone made a hard push to get it to us in time for the holiday. A C-130 put down on Christmas Eve with pallet after pallet of mail for us, and it had a package for me from my wife. In it was the first pictures of my son I had gotten since he got through that new born tiny wrinkled old man phase.

Those pictures, along with the home made chocolate chip cookies my men devoured, made it not seem quite so cold any more. It's always the little things that mean the most.

 

[littlclimb]

Re: Your most memorable gift

Before my son deployed to Iraq, we stopped by starbucks and took a walk through the Dallas Arboritium. At starbucks we picked up one of their Christmas cookies, gingerbread in the shape of a star and we shared it on our walk. After he left I hit all the starbucks around town and they all came up with a few cases of this cookie. We did monthly soldier boxes at work and a cookie went on the top of Chris' everytime. He would get the gift of the cookie, I got the gift of the phone call..."Mom, got my cookie, got a cup of coffee? I have mine. Let's share" I had a stash of the cookies in my draw at work and a couple at home, so I would have one ready when he called.

He leaves in a few weeks to go back. Time to get some more cookies.

Susan