Jan08_03

God saw you were getting tired, and a cure was not to be.
So he put him arms around you and whispered, "Come to me."
With tearful eyes we watched you, and saw you pass away.
Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us, he only takes the best.

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I
cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me,
angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a
winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, Completed the magic that was
Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded
by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered,
perhaps I started to dream. The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, But I opened
my eyes when it tickled my ear.Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near. Standing out in the cold and the dark
of the night, A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight. A soldier, I puzzled, some
twenty years old, Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold. Alone in the dark, he
looked up and smiled, Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child. 'What are
you doing?' I asked without fear, 'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! Put
down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, You should be at home on a cold
Christmas Eve!' For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, Away from the cold and the
snow blown in drifts.. To the window that danced with a warm fire's light Then he
sighed and he said 'Its really all right, I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.''It's
my duty to stand at the front of the line, That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before
me. My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December, 'Then he sighed, 'That's a
Christmas 'Gram always remembers.' My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am. I've not seen my own son in more than a
while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile. Then he bent and he
carefully pulled from his bag, The red, white, and blue... an American flag. I can live
through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little
to eat. I can carry the weight of killing another, Or lay down my life with my sister and
brother.. Who stand at the front against any and all, To ensure for all time that this flag
will not fall.' 'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright, Your family is waiting and
I'll be all right.' 'But isn't there something I can do, at the least, 'Give you money,' I
asked, 'or prepare you a feast? It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being
away from your wife and your son.' Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, 'Just
tell us you love us, and never forget. To fight for our rights back at home while we're
gone, To stand your own watch, no matter how long. For when we come home, either
standing or dead, To know you remember we fought and we bled. Is payment enough,
and with that we will trust, That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC,USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment, OIC, Logistics Cell One, Al Taqqadum , Iraq.

The General Fund Cash Flow for the Month of November was as follows:
      **Balance at the Beginning of August -- $9,726.83
      **Budgeted Income for August ---------- $10,183.25
      **Budgeted Expenses for August -------   $9,645.54
      **Ending Balance for August------------- $10,264.54

The Memorial Fund Cash Flow for the Month of November was as follows:
      **Balance at the Beginning of August -- $11,601.78
      **Income                                             -- $      127.14**
      **Expenses                                          -- $        73.00
      **Ending Balance                                -- $ 11,655.92

If you wish to have a more detailed breakdown of our financial status please attend the
next Church Council meeting scheduled for January.