Posted on Nov 29, 2014
What is your favorite memory of serving away from home during the holidays?
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Servicemembers
Holidays
Servicemembers Holidays
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 13
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Mine was Christmas 2012, mainly because I was so appreciative of my family and of every little thing I received from back home. Even though we had to work, Christmas ended up being a decent day.
I took a picture with Santa Clause and found that he didn't even speak English! It was so ironic that I had to laugh. Yep, definitely one of my better days. =)
I took a picture with Santa Clause and found that he didn't even speak English! It was so ironic that I had to laugh. Yep, definitely one of my better days. =)
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SGT Richard H.
LOL I can't help but picture non-english speaking Santa calling out the names of the reindeer.
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Christmas in USMC Basic....our Drill Instructors advised us on Christmas eve that we were to hang a green wool sock on the end of our rack, explaining that Jesus and Santa Claus love the Marine Corps. In the morning, each sock contained a peppermint hard candy...the only sweet we had during the course of Basic Training (other than occasional applesauce in the chow hall). We also got an extra hour of free time after church and a phone call home. (we got a total of two of those during Basic).
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SGT (Join to see)
SGT Richard H., it must've sucked being in Marine basic during Christmas, especially since the DIs probably didn't want to be there that day. Nowadays, in the Army, the recruits in IET take a break for Christmas Exodus. Supposedly it wasn't mandatory for us to take exodus, but heaven help us if we tried to decline in order to save our leave days. We were told that if we tried that, we would not be having a happy holiday that year, lol.
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SGT Richard H.
It's funny how memories are SGT (Join to see). I remember thinking Basic was bad a the time, but now I really can't recall what was so bad about it. I remember Christmas in Basic for the few little good highlights and not so much for the missing family, etc. that was surely going on at the time.
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SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS
SGT Richard H. I remember MCRD San Diego at Christmas. Platoon 3122 was indoctrinated with: "Do you know what USMC stands for?" Someone, not me thankfully, said "YES!" What said the Drill Instructor? United States Marine Corps. The Drill Instructor replied, "not when you come to recruit training in December, then it means U suckers missed Christmas."
Like you, we were provided some extra down time on Christmas day after church, maybe an hour. Then back to the training schedule.
It was a great time.
Like you, we were provided some extra down time on Christmas day after church, maybe an hour. Then back to the training schedule.
It was a great time.
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One of my favorite memories is a Thanksgiving in Germany. Our small (5-6 person) office had a mannequin - I have no idea where it came from or how long it had been there - dressed as a German police officer. We called him Fritz. The NCOIC of the office and his wife invited everyone over to their quarters for Thanksgiving, and when we arrived, there was Fritz with a sign around his neck that said "Happy Thanksgiving"! That's a fond memory.
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