The Embers glowed softly - All services version

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 eye 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 young man, I saw, some twenty years old
A Marine standing guard in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

As I gazed in surprise, an airplane I heard overhead,
Patrolling the skies to keep safe those now in bed
And down the street, I was sure that I saw now
A Naval ship with waves breaking over her bow.

In the distance, a platoon of soldiers on patrol
and a Coast Guard cutter to complete the whole

"What are you doing?" I said to the Marine"
Call to your buddies whom I have seen
Brush the snow from your sleeve,
you all should be at home on this 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 "It’s really all right,
We’re out here by choice. We’re here every night"

"It’s our 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 us,
We’re proud to stand here like our fathers before us.

My Gramps died at Pearl on a day in December,
My uncle stormed a hill in Korea, do you remember?
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.
"We can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from our families, away from our homes,

We stand at our posts through the rain and the sleet,
We can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,
We can carry the weight of killing another
Or lay down our lives with our sisters and brothers
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To insure 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.