Christmas while in the military

My most memorable Christmas was in March, 1973. I was still in Viet Nam during Christmas, 1972, and after being wounded in January '73, I was allowed to go home. When I got home, my parents had postponed celebrating Christmas until I got home. So I walked into a house with a huge Christmas tree and lots of gifts. It honestly felt weird because less than 72 hours before I had left Nha Trang and now was in Knoxville, TN

 

2004, Christmas at LSA Anaconda.

We'd spent the year at a radio retrans site, 15 or so Americans, some Iraqis, and maybe a third of an acre of flat ground on a mountaintop in the Zagros mountains next to Iran. The living conditions were pretty primitive for Iraqi standards, more like the COPs in Afghanistan. We improved it as we could, even ended up with a gas stove cooking a hot meal once a day. A far cry from the first weeks, boiling bagged pork ribs in an ammo can with scrap wood, lol.

Anyways, we were on the way home, and were passing through the big LSA around Christmas. Having missed eating at a big DFAC, we were excited to be there for the Christmas spread. We walked over early, to be first in line. But right as we got there, some mortars came in and the incoming sirens started blaring.

Everyone headed to the bunkers, so we followed suit. 20 minutes later when the all clear sounded, we exited and saw a huge line of troops at the DFAC. Needless to say we were mad as hell, but of course we just laugh about it now.

We found out later that 22 people were killed at the DFAC in Mosul that day in an insider bombing attack.

 

That reminded me of something that happened around Christmas... The mess prepared a great meal and I was on KP... My job was to heat up the water in those galvanized cans that cleaned the mess gear... I had a metal rod that I soaked and put to the flame and then inserted it in a hole and it would heat the water... Simple right?... The only problem was I was shooting the bull with my buddy and forgot about the gasoline faucet I turned on... When it finally dawned on me I told, him hold on I need to turn the faucet off... I did... Now this is the good part... So I lit the rod and shoved it down the hole... Before I go into what happened let me say this, this mess cleaning system had a smokestack that extended from the top to allow the heat to escape, probably six plus feet... So to make a long story short, when the lit rod hit the gasoline, the smokestack separated from the system and as I figure launched itself 100 plus feet in the air and drifted into the South China Sea... The mess tent was full and the explosion from the smokestack leaving, sounded like a mortar round... Everyone hit the deck... Oops!... I can't print on here what the mess gunny said... I think I got off KP in February or was it March?... Christmas 1965 with the Marines in Nam at Chu-lai by the South China Sea... I remember it well!... Brother Glen

 

I am a Vietnam Era Veteran - no combat. didn't go to Nam.

However I went home every Christmas and they were my best Christmases with my brother and sisters until I had children of my own.