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...

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.

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.

**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

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.

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!

f50lrrp · 12-14-2009, 12:53

It was my 1st Christmas in the service. I had arrived in Augsburg, Germany from six months TDY to RVN. One of the other guys in my platoon was surprised by his parents who had come to Germany and wanted to take him away for the weekend. The problem was that he had guard duty that night. He offered $250 if anyone would take his guard. I figured that if he wanted to pay it and if I could get away with it (I was a corporal and exempt from GD) that I’d take the money and pull his duty. The guy paid me the money and I began to prepare for guard mount.

As luck would have it I was selected at guard mount as the colonel’s orderly and relieved from duty and sent back to the barracks. Upon arriving back at the barracks, I was asked if I would pull KP for another guy in my platoon. He had a date with his German girl friend and was desperate. I agreed and charged the guy another $250 to pull his duty. I arrived at the mess hall at 0430 hours and discovered that I was the first to get there. That meant that I could chose the job that I wanted. When the mess sergeant arrived an 0445 hours I told him that I would like to be the head count and he gave me the job.

I counted those entering the mess hall for the breakfast meal and at 0700 hours the mess sergeant decided that he had more than enough KP’s and he sent four of us back to the barracks.

That night I took a Taxi (paid for with a Kennedy Half Dollar) to a good German Restaurant and had a Wiener Schnitzel that cost 4 Marks. All in all a great Christmas and profitable as well. ( A private was only being paid $77.10 per month).