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A G.I. Christmas  A G.I. Christmas A true story similar to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" about the decorating of our tree at the Northern Training Area in Okinawa. Per caprice, I later married the neice of the Producer for "Charlie Brown Christmas" who voiced "Lucy" in prior CB cartoons. A GI CHRISTMASDecember 1977 By LT Brent E. White, MSC, USN (retired) Christmas time for a GI far away from home can be a very lonely time. Yet the spirit of Christmas has a magical way of weaving itself into the fabric of one's life. Such was my lot, and my enlightenment, as I huddled in Sick Bay next to the kerosene stove as a chill drizzle dampened our remote little mountaintop posting. It was Christmas Eve at the Northern Training Area (NTA) in Okinawa, Japan, 1977. The small cadre of Marines, with which I had the honor of serving, and I were in a "down" time, having sent the last group of trainees home for the holiday season. But for us instructors, this was our home. None of us were what others would call jolly fellows, even in the best of times. We were warriors with very serious responsibilities. MGYSGT "Top" Ruffo had been left in charge of things while Charlie Oscar (the commanding officer) had gone south to glory in the holiday cheer with his family. Top Ruffo was a tough little Italian every bit the Roman legion soldier. He could hew any man down to size with just a few well-chosen and gruffly uttered words. A veteran of previous wars, he had earned all of our unquestioned respect and loyalty. SGT Hodges was "a long, tall Texan and he is the law!" He was well known throughout the Special Forces community for his exploits. We were all always especially nice to him because of his vitriolic temperament that burst forth at the slightest provocation. With practice, one could learn to predict his temper by the set of his big, square jaw. We called him "Hedge-Hodge" due to his prickly personality. SGT "Buddha" (I've forgotten his real name) had an angelic face set atop a Mr. Universe body. His smile could call forth a heavenly choir to perch upon his bald head which he meticulously shaved every morning. I do believe that he genuinely enjoyed biting the head off a chicken, as he did for an "attention-grabber" before every class in jungle survival that he taught. SGT Jones, a.k.a. "Sasquatch" was a giant of a man chiseled from glossy ebony. One of the top rated black-belt karate experts in the Marine Corps, he had the soul of a poet as long as he did not overhear you call him Sasqatch! I had seen him nearly moved to tears as he eloquently illustrated, with prose, how he stomped his last karate opponent. PVT Martha was our driver. He survived as a street urchin in the streets of Beirut among the bombed out buildings of his homeland before a relative brought him to the United States. He was the most ardently patriotic man I have ever known. His nose had been broken sometime in the past, causing it to be radically deviated to the right. One could say that his nose was permanently out of joint. He drove with abandon. We merely called him Martha, since a girl's name seemed the perfect moniker for this tough little Arab. The others usually called me "Doc Blade", because at over 6 feet tall and 145 pounds, while wearing Marine-Green, I looked like a blade of grass. I was noted for being somewhat of a cynic, probably a result of all the "turkeys" who passed through my sick bay trying to get alight duty chit (no-one ever got one) to escape the rigorous rough terrain and jungle survival training. I was well on my umpteenth game of solitaire, singing "Counting flowers on the wall, that don't bother me at all...now don't tell me, I've got nothing to do!" on Christmas Eve when Top Ruffo stuck his head through the sick bay door and grumbled, "You got the midwatch, Blade. While you're at it, keep a look out for Christmas, why don't cha! It might just show up on your watch." The midwatch has always s been a no-brainer just managing to stay awake and making sure the place didn't burn down. Finding Christmas in this God-forsaken place amidst this motley crew would be a tough order to comply with, however. I was contemplating this in the wee hours of Christmas morning when the notion crept into my noggin that perhaps that little juniper tree down by the latrine could serve as a Christmas tree. So I grabbed my K-bar knife and headed out to the latrine to cut it down. I was hacking away at it when Hedge-Hodge exited for the latrine. "Whatcha doin', Blade?" "Top said I had to look for Christmas." "Even Charlie Brown would turn his nose up at that tree, Blade!" "Got any better ideas?" "Na...let me help ya." So the two of us chopped down our little tree and hauled it back up to the command post (CP). We then played Spades while we shot the breeze about Christmas past, with our little tree forgotten in the corner. As I turned up a joker from our deck of 51 cards, the glimmer of a notion began to sparkle. "Hey, Hedge-Hodge, maybe we could cut the jokers, kings, queens, jacks, and aces out of this deck of cards and string them up for Christmas tree ornaments?" "Yeah, Blade, but we can't use these, you got your grimy finger prints all over them. Maybe we can talk Martha into opening up the Gee Dunk (camp store) so we can get a couple of new decks of cards." So off we went to roust Martha out of bed at 2:00 in the morning. Needless to say, he was NOT amused. But he did take Top's order that we keep an eye out for Christmas seriously. So, grumbling all the way, we dashed through the rain to the Gee Dunk. "Don't worry about paying for them, Blade, its Christmas. Hey, Hedge-Hodge, what do you think about popping some popcorn and stringing it up for the tree?" "Yeah, right, and how am I going to do that without waking up Buddha?" You know we share a hooch, and my foot locker with my sewing kit is under our bunk." "Well, get him up, too, and tell him Top Ruffo ordered us all to look out for Christmas." So it was that at 3:00 in the morning Martha and I were cutting kings and queens, aces, jacks, and jokers out of decks of cards while Hedge-Hodge diligently strung popcorn. Buddha had joined us (after shaving his head, of course) and was fashioning a little paper angle doll to top our tree. I can only imagine how we all looked, that night, me in my Marine Greens, Hedge-Hodge in his skivvies, Martha in his red night shirt, and Buddha in his sweat pants as we worked together to decorate our little Christmas tree. It must have been a sight, judging from the expression on Sasquatch's face as he entered the CP to relieve my watch and assume the duty. But the spirit of Christmas was contagious. "Hey guys" said Sasquatch, "you know any Christmas Carols?" "You mean like 'Jingle Bells, shotgun shells'." croaked Martha? "No, no, NO!!" lamented Sasquatch. He then began to sing "Silent Night" in such a rich, melodious baritone that it warmed the heart of every one of us. We greeted Christmas morn with an exuberant round of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen!" around our gloriously decorated Christmas tree. It was then that Top Ruffo blustered into the CP. "Well, Blade, it looks like you found Christmas! Now everyone get out of here, I got some top-secret stuff to take care of!" We carried the Christmas cheer with us through the day until, about noon, we heard the call over the loud-speaker to go to flight quarters and meet the helicopter at the landing zone. Imagine our surprise when we saw Santa Claus at the controls of the chopper as it landed. It was then that we discovered MGYSGT Ruffo's Christmas present to all of us the USO tour of Miss America and her bevy of beauties to join us for Christmas dinner, at our home-away-from-home. |
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