First Christmas away from home while in the service...........

greenberetTFS · 12-11-2009, 13:07

Augsburg,Germany 1956......... It was Christmas eve and I was determined to not have my dinner on post..... Requested leave that evening and decided to go to a place where I could get a meal and sleep for the night... Found one out side of town and had a wiener schnitzel with a fried egg(?) on the top for dinner... The place was busy and I was the only American in the dining room,however the German people were very kind to me and smiled at me often during my dinner... They had a special event that evening,a choir of little kids about 8 years old up to a maybe 12 years old would stop by to sing some Christmas carols..... When they arrived I listened to several carols however when they broke into Silent Night in German of course, this big tough 18 year old bad ass paratrooper started to have moist eyes and got up quickly to leave the table......It was my first time away from home on Christmas,but of course not my last...... I'll never forget that Christmas for the rest of my life.....

Any one else care to share there first Christmas away from home?

Big Teddy

Sdiver · 12-11-2009, 13:29

Standing in a tower at our site at Northpoint, scanning the sky with my spot light, searching for Santa....and yes, had he landed in our site, I would have opened up on him.

I realized it was worthless to fell sad or sorry for myself. I volunteered for the Army. I volunteered to come to Germany. I volunteered to be on a nuke site (strike 3), so why cry over spilled mike.

lksteve · 12-11-2009, 13:53

Enlisted 38 years ago, this month, right after Christmas...I swapped CQ Runner with a buddy who was married...spent most of the day in the playing spades with the 1SG (I was his driver) and a couple other guys...spent the next to last Christmas in the Army in Mogadishu...

**Ambush Master** · 12-11-2009, 13:56

X-Mas:

1967, NMMI, made it home.

1968, USMA (Woo Poo) made it home and was assigned as the chaperone/escort for Fredrick and Edwin Borman, their dad (our neighbor) was entering Lunar Orbit and would read Scripture from that lofty perch as a part of our Mid-night Christmas Eve Church Service (St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, League City, Texas)!!

1969 Finished the then Phase I of The QC Pipeline and hitched a ride on a westbound Herc out of Pope. The Crew Bus took us from Dyes to the Abilene, Texas Airport and the 6 of us in-filled the facility!! When the Security Guard and Texas International Station Manager opened up, THERE WE WERE!!! We scared the crap out of them. Class A's, Bloused Boots, and Green Beret's (Without Flashes). The Manager GAVE US ALL, ROUND TRIP TICKETS to get home and back (Ya'just Gotta Love Texas!!)!!

1970 RVN, CCC (Kontum). My first Xmas away from home, I still have the Menu from the Huckleberry Inn Mess Hall, and I was just so few weeks away from this: http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...read.php?t=788

XJWoody · 12-11-2009, 14:03

Being the FNG, I got hung with guard duty @ the squadron motor pool. I recall it was one of those lovely "brass monkey" prairie winter days, also the guard uniform was wearing those old OD parkas & field pants w/ liner (in addition to the LBE & steel pot)

The oddest thing was at the dinner meal, our Division CO came in, and sat down for a meal - with little old me.

I remember thinking that was a pretty squared away gesture, but sort of wished the old guy had spent the day with his kids instead... a little hard to relax being a PV1 with a MG sitting across the table.

What I don't recall was any melancholy or homesickness... I was a soldier, and I felt like I was doing what soldiers do. Shortly after the holidays, we went on a winter REFORGER, and then got to spend Thanksgiving '86 in balmy Fort Irwin.

Call me a fool, but I do miss that stuff.

Thank You!! to all our troops serving currently!

mojaveman · 12-11-2009, 14:03

My first Christmas away from home was spent at Patch Barracks which is the home of HQUSEUCOM and located in Stuttgart/Vaihingen. It was '81 and I was all of 18 years old. My Platoon Sergeant let me have the 24th off so that afternoon I went downtown to the Weinachtsmarkt on the Schlossplatz to drink some gluwein and listen to Christmas carols being sung in a foreign language. I then went back to the Kaserne and that evening celebrated with some of my cohorts.

I sometimes wish that I could go back in time and do it all over again.

Sdiver · 12-11-2009, 14:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ambush Master

1968, USMA (Woo Poo) made it home and was assigned as the chaperone/escort for Fredrick and Edwin Borman, their dad (our neighbor) was entering Lunar Orbit and would read Scripture from that lofty perch as a part of our Mid-night Christmas Eve Church Service (St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, League City, Texas)!!

I always love reading this story, Martin.

Ohhh to have been a fly on the wall.

Richard · 12-11-2009, 14:14

1973 - RTA Camp Nong Takoo - took some ammo boxes and made a fireplace -painted it red and used white to make it look like bricks - placed a small Xmas tree on top and hung an OD sock stuffed with a Playboy magazine - too busy 'working on the railroad' to be too lonely.

Richard

Streck-Fu · 12-11-2009, 14:33

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) pier 12 Norfolk preparing for a Dec 26 departure to Desert Shield which became Desert Storm just after we transited the Suez Canal a matter of days later.
I was not 21 yet so no celebratory drinks for me...Those would come 48 days later and then again 45 days later.

Ret10Echo · 12-11-2009, 14:38

1985....Wonju Korea. Bitter cold...the chow hall served up a pretty good meal and the Platoon did what platoons do. We were a pretty tight bunch.

ZonieDiver · 12-11-2009, 14:55

1) Being told in December 1970 while in Co. H, SFTG for Weapons training that I was to be one of the few not granted leave over Christmas - even though I had taken no leave since entering the Army in January. A couple days before Christmas at around 5:00 p.m. I was called in to see the the 1SG and told to "go". I packed quickly, shared a cab to Raleigh-Durham airport with two other trainees. I was able to get on a TWA flight to St. Louis' Lambert Field with a reservation and then flew "stand-by" from there.On the flight to Kansas City, I was one of a few stand-bys to get on - military and college students.

Kansas City's airport was packed. The flight to Amarillo was pretty full. There were more than a dozen stand-bys, including me and two other Army types in uniform. The midnight departure of the flight approached, and the gate agent, a middle-aged man, was going off duty. When the new one came on, a younger guy, the older guy said, "We have all these stand-bys, but those three (pointing to the three of us sitting together) get on first. Got it?!?" And we did. I made it home for Christmas, after stops in Amarillo and Albuquerque. It felt good.

2) Christmas, 1971 at Ft. Kobbe, CZ. Those of us who didn't have leave loaded up a Duece and a Half with presents and drove over to a Panamanian village on the far side of Venado DZ, near the beach. We had one of the crankiest SSGs in the US Army - a short, round-bellied, Puerto Rican (he filled out the suit best) act as Santa Claus and pass out the presents to the kids.

That is when I first saw the magic that is SantaClaus. SSG Davila looked NOTHING like Santa - but the sparkle in those Panamanian kids' eyes said they believed he was. And, if only for that one day, he was.

**Pete** · 12-11-2009, 16:14

Don't remember, it was Dec 1974.

Been out of the Q Course about a month, didn't take leave and was not in the field. I think I fell in love with the half day schedule.

Being in the brick three story barracks by the JFK Chapel we had a CQ & Runner in the Barracks, another CQ at Bn, a SDO, SDNCO & runner at Group plus the 17 or so folks at IMA/CMA Guard so I'm sure my idle time was filled. I do remember pulling all of them many times during the next few years.

LongWire · 12-11-2009, 16:37

Dec 90, Basic Training, Sand Hill, Ft Benning Ga., No Christmas exodus due to Desert Shield and the call up of the IRR. Got to go to the Benning Main PX and Movie theater on Christmas Day. High Points for anyone in Basic Training no matter where you are.

DisplacedTrojan · 12-11-2009, 19:19

OIF. Only one mission that day. But we got back early and played a game of risk with the Squadron XO and a bunch of guys from the three shop. The SXO was quoting Clausewitz and Sun Tzu. However, during his lectures on warfare and what have you... he left a back door open into his area. It was too tempting. He didn't last three turns. The look on his face was priceless.

Cynic · 12-11-2009, 19:27

Butting in long enough to say thank goodness I live in a country with men who will do this,,,,and do it for the right reasons.
God bless and thank you all!