VA Military Memories Competition
IT2 Teresa Reeder, U.S. Navy (1984 – 2002)
What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:
In my years of service as an U.S. Army chaplain, rooted in a childhood spent among the values and rhythms of a Green Beret family, I learned the power of presence. My father, a retired Special Forces officer, demonstrated the art of being fully engaged wherever he was, whether in the thick of an overseas mission or at our kitchen table. That steady, attentive presence shaped me deeply, and it’s a habit I strive to keep alive in my own ministerial calling within our pluralistic organization.
Cpl Paul Scimone, U.S. Marines (1964 – 1968)
What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:
Xmas Eve 1967 at PhuBai 3rd Med Bn. In triage, where I was an ambulance driver and stretcher-bearer, several casualties came in. We moved one young Marine with a GSW through and through the head back into Shock and debridement where he could pass away quietly and comfortably in the dimly lit room. It was an eerie scene, where he lay as if in state on the litter in the center of the S&D room. Although he had a strong heartbeat and pulse, they were sure I would take him to Graves in the morning. After settling down, I returned to my hooch, where everyone was telling stories of home and crying in their beer. After a few shots of Kessler with beer chasers, I tried to sleep but couldn’t put that young Marine out of my head for some reason. I went back to triage to check and see if he had crossed over yet and was surprised to find him chugging along as he was before. I started to leave when something pulled me back. The thought of this poor kid dying alone on Christmas Eve stabbed me deep in the chest, and I decided he wouldn’t die alone that night. I pulled up a chair and took his warm hand, whispering to him that it was okay to let go. I could have sworn that I felt him squeeze my hand one time but reasoned that it must have been the alcohol. I don’t know what time I dozed off, but early next morning, a corpsman came in to check on him, only to find me asleep and holding his hand, and thinking maybe I knew and recognized him. When I told him why I spent the night there, HE broke down crying and hugged me. Surprised that his vitals were still strong, they readied him for the medevac to Danang. My only regret was that I never knew his name. I fancied being able to tell his parents/family/wife that he was not alone on Christmas Eve. Semper Fi
SGT Irvin Moran, U.S. Army (1965 – 1968)
What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:
I have enjoyed many beautiful and heartfelt Christmases in my life, but one stands out as my most memorable. It was Christmas 1967, and I was a 20-year-old paratrooper serving in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP). In December 1967, our LRRP teams were conducting seven-day reconnaissance missions in the rugged jungle rainforest mountains along the borders of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Our mission was to locate the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units that were infiltrating South Vietnam along the infamous “Ho Chi Minh” trails. We would attempt to observe these units until our Brigade’s Parachute Battalions and/or air assets could engage them. Our team’s survival in this environment depended on complete stealth.
SGT Bruce Kevin Blair, U.S. Army (1979 – 1991)
What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:
It was December 1990. I was at Fort McCoy, WI, getting ready to be deployed to the sandbox for Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia. It was a couple of days before Christmas, and the CIA gave us a briefing. The agent told us that if fighting breaks out over there, 1 out of 3 of us probably won’t come back home. On Christmas Eve, a major snowstorm and ice storm hit the Midwest. Many of our wives were carpooling in a van and driving a great distance to get a chance to see us one last time, which would be on Christmas day since we were deploying right after Christmas. We were allowed to see our wives on Christmas Eve and Christmas night only. On Christmas Eve, my first sergeant called me into his office to let a few other soldiers and me know that the Red Cross had contacted them with bad news. Our wives were in a terrible accident, and the van they were traveling in was involved in a slide-off on the interstate about 4 hours away near Chicago and, tumbled over a couple of times and landed upside down in a ditch. All were taken by ambulance to the hospital; however, we did not know who was injured and how badly injured we already had in the back of our minds we might never see our wives again once we deployed if war were to break out.
BM3 Aaron Wayne, U.S. Navy (1964 – 1968)
What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:
My first child, Cindy, was born on December 24, 1967. On Christmas Day I went to see my new daughter and to give my wife Shelley a watch that I had bought her for Christmas. On December 27, the USS Yorktown left for the 1968 WestPac cruise that was to become a part of the history books. First to San Diego, then on to Hawaii. When we were a few days out of Pearl Harbor on our way to Yokosuka, Japan, we received the news about the capture of the USS Pueblo and were informed that we were now headed for the Sea of Japan.
Sgt David Adams, U.S. Marines (1986 – 1994)
What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:
On Friday, November 28, 1986, the day after Thanksgiving, I arrived at my very first duty station at the MCAGCC, 29 Palms, California. I was a Private First Class (PFC), fresh out of the Marine Corps boot camp and MOS school. I was a total boot!