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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.

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.

Continued------------------------------------------>

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

"COAST GUARD CUTTER MACKINAW RESUMES "CHRISTMAS TREE SHIP"

CHICAGO -November 29, 2007- The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw (WLBB-30) will arrived here, Friday, with a delivery of 1,000 Christmas trees that will be provided to needy families at the Navy Pier in downtown during a public ceremony Dec. 1, 2007, at 10 a.m.

USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB 30) is in her second year as the Christmas Tree Ship, continuing the tradition of its predecessor (WAGB-83), which resurrected the Christmas Tree Ship in 2000. The crew of the Mackinaw hauls a load of trees from the woods of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin for distribution to more than a thousand disadvantaged Chicago-area families.

On behalf of the Ada S. McKinley Community Services, Inc., volunteers from the Sea Cadets, Young Marines and the Sea Explorer Scouts assist the Mackinaw crew with the offloading ceremony.

The Chicago Christmas Ship Committee, which purchased the trees, represents diverse aspects of the Chicago boating community such as the Coast Guard Auxiliary, International Shipmaster's Association and the Chicago Yachting Association, for instance.

The original Christmas Tree Ship, the Rouse Simmons, started the tradition in 1896, when Captain Scheunemann docked his tree-laden schooner on the riverbank near the Clark Street Bridge.

The Christmas Tree Ship festivities will commence on Friday with a Welcoming Ceremony at 8 a.m., followed by the Mackinaw hosting School children for tours and nautical history lessons. The Tree presentation will take place on Saturday, at 10 a.m. Following the ceremony, Mackinaw will be available for tours from 1-5 p.m.

Mackinaw will continue her aids-to-navigation mission on her return transit to Northern Lake Michigan.

For media inquiries or those wishing to attend the ceremony should contact Ensign Erin Chlum, USCGC Mackinaw public affairs, at (231) 445-0812; or the Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs representative, here, at 216-310-2677.

Video of the USCGC Mackinaw transit to Chicago will be made available upon request.

Source: USCG

While members of the nation's fifth armed service are all trained as first responders, Petty Officer 3rd Class Ashley Climaldi has utilized her skills to save the lives of others both on duty and off.

Philadelphia native, Climaldi is stationed at Coast Guard Stations Cape May and Townsend Inlet where her role as an emergency medical technician has afforded her the skills necessary to save the lives of five people, including a 3-year-old girl.

On June 19, 2007, Climaldi was a member of a rescue boat crew responding to a report of a capsized boat in Ingram Thorofare. The boat crew arrived on scene, and Climaldi assisted in pulling three people from the water.

Later that same day, the rescue crew went to a nearby, seaside restaurant to eat lunch, and Climaldi put her training to use once again in order to save a 3-year-old girl’s life.

"While we were eating, there was a family behind us," Climaldi said. "They seemed real happy. They had a little girl with them, and she was putting makeup on her grandmother. She was so cute.

"We continued eating and the girl started choking on something. The grandmother was patting her on the back, and then the girl stopped coughing. It was scary to see a little girl, a little tiny person, not breathing. I rushed over to her, and I didn't want to be mean, but I pushed the grandmother out of the way.

“I lifted the girl's arms up in the air and jerked her up about three times and the piece of food just came out. I didn't even have to get that far into the Heimlich maneuver. Once she started breathing again she started to cry. Everyone in the restaurant, including the family, was just staring at me.

“The entire place was just silent. After a few minutes the little girl ran up to me and started hugging me. It was like she knew. Then she went back to eating her chicken fingers," Climaldi stated.

A few days later, the station crew responded to a report of a drowning victim at Avalon Pointe Marina in Avalon Manor. When the rescue crew arrived, they discovered a man face down in the water near his boat.

"When we got there, the guy was in between the boat's transom and the engine," Climaldi said.

"He had a pulse but he wasn't breathing. I could tell he had drowned. He was completely blue in color, and his hands were white. I could tell he hadn't had oxygen in a long time. Another crew member and I pulled the man out of the water and placed him on the deck of the boat.

“It was probably the jolt of being moved, but he started to spit up water. After that, he started to breathe shallow breaths, and all I could think to myself was, 'Come on, just keep breathing.'” She stated.

“After a while, he started to cough up a lot of water, his breathing got better and the color started to return to his face. When he started talking he didn't make much sense and he kept trying to fight everyone because he had been without oxygen for so long. He kept calling everyone Mom - he called me Patty. He was totally delirious, but I was just happy he was screaming because it meant he was breathing."

It was later learned the man Climaldi helped rescue that day was a captain in the Camden (N.J.) Police Department and because of Climaldi's actions, he was able to make a full recovery without any brain damage.

Nearly nine months later on March 1, Climaldi found herself in yet another situation where her skills as an EMT would save the life of an elderly gentleman when the man began to choke on a piece of food while she was dining at a restaurant in her hometown of Philadelphia.

While others in the restaurant remained motionless and shocked, Climaldi once again came to the aid of another and successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver. The food was dislodged, and the man made a full recovery.

"Petty Officer Climaldi is one of those people who would run into a burning building to save someone," said Lt. Mark Pesnell, officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Cape May. "She has the ability to think clearly in times of intense stress."

Climaldi says saving lives is just a part of her job, but her advanced training as an EMT was an opportunity that didn't come quickly or easy.

"From the first day I joined the Coast Guard, I wanted to take advantage of the EMT program. It costs a lot of money to send someone to the school, so for the first year I was here, I begged my chain of command to let me go to school. They didn't let me go right away, and now I understand why they didn't - I had a lot of other things I needed to complete first, like becoming boat crew qualified. After about a year, when I had everything completed, I asked again, and they let me go to EMT school."

Since her time in the Coast Guard, Climaldi has responded to 11 search and rescue cases, saving a total of five lives and assisting 24 others.

Climaldi was named the Coast Guard Member of the Year in 2007 by the USO of Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, and her accomplishments have earned her a commendation medal by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Like Idawalley Zorada Lewis, a lighthouse keeper credited with saving 18 lives, Climaldi's lifesaving actions exemplify the Coast Guard's core values of honor, respect and devotion to duty.

By Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

04-11-2008

Cape May