Christmas Memories from a Watch Tower in Vietnam

"With three months left in Vietnam the 9th Infantry Division gave me and 34 other infantrymen and early Christmas present. Randomly picked, we were shipped from the fighting in the Mekong Delta 200 miles north to bolster the guard at a U.S. Army depot. Instead of combing the swamps, we manned guard towers at a guard depot that hadn't been hit in three years.

Christmas Eve found me on a tower listening to the rain drum on the metal roof, staring into the blackness and thinking of home. My Dad and Mom, sisters, brother, their spouses and kids, ham or turkey, Christmas tree, the happy voices, the phonograph with Christmas music and snow would all be there this evening.

Seemed like I could hear the carols now. I listened close. People were singing in the distance, and it was getting closer. Half an hour later a dozen guys from the 9th who had the night off were below my tower caroling. Finishing, half of them climbed up, offered some Christmas cheer, slapped me on the back and wished me a "Merry Christmas." Back on the ground, standing in a huge calf deep puddle with their arms over each other’s shoulder, one asked, "What's your favorite Christmas song?"
"O Holy Night", I replied. I heard one of them say, "That's a harder one."
As they finished the guy from Alabama dropped his glass in the water. He fell to his hands and knees searching for it, repeating, "That's a motel glass my wife and I had the night before I shipped over. "The rest waved and started trudging off to the next tower to serenade in the pelting rain. For the following hour I heard the caroling fade as they made their way around the perimeter.

"O Holy Night" is still my favorite.... and, yes, Alabama found the motel glass he and his wife had shared."