1 2 I am Serenity from Alien Dreams and for those of
you that remember, Bell-Gab. I have had a few nicknames in the course of my life but mostly called Snoopy or Spooky to close friends and fellow warriors. I am retired from the United States Army. I was placed on the Army’s Retired list in October of 2013 after 38 years of Active, Reserve and a bit of IRR service.3 Retirement from the Service was a very proud moment for me. I have my flag and retired pin as well as the other benefits that come with military retirement. I have been in the military most of my adult life and thinking about it even before I graduated high school.
In the course of 38 years of service and some of the positions I was assigned I have developed some habits both good and bad. Some of which are still with me to this day. One of those habits is a quirk of my hyper vigilance. Every night I will walk the perimeter of the compound down here on the Bayou for security and/or unwanted activity. The walk also lets me commune with the Commander in 
Chief. All in all, it quiets me and eases the stresses of the day. In short, I feel better when I’m done and back under cover.
Having re-connected through social media with people I knew throughout my time in service, I began thinking of some of my old brothers that have passed to that big parade field in the sky. Some through missions and some after service. Some of those I was close to and as I get older I find myself thinking about them more often. Mostly those that left us on missions we were on. Not to the point of sadness. Just a bit of melancholy now and again. No, no survivors guilt. Just missing the chess games or the beer at the O-Club. And the BBQ’s! Good times.
So it’s Christmas eve. In addition to my security check, I do as I always do on Christmas Eve, I search the sky for that old man in the red suit and 8 reindeer.4 As I was going around the east side of the house I thought I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. But then I saw headlights and knew it was just a car coming down the road. Thinking nothing more about it I grabbed a cup of deer corn that I throw out for the small animals and of course the deer and continued down the east side of the fence. I finished up that side of the fence, checked the batteries on the game camera, poured the corn on the ground and started back.
As I was coming to the end of the fence I heard the unmistakable sound of a slide being racked back on what sounded like a large caliber handgun. I closed quickly with the house and drew my own sidearm. I saw a brief flash of light and smelled cigarette smoke. I peaked around 
the corner and that’s when I saw him. Kneeling on the ground near my flag pole was a figure. He seemed to be dressed in fatigues and had a beret on his head. I could almost see through him and there was a faint glow surrounding him. He looked vaguely familiar but couldn’t quite make out who he was. I left the cover of the side of the house and started to creep towards him. He was crouched on one knee and his head was slowly scanning up and down the road, swirls of smoke drifting off on the breeze. “Hey Chief, nice night huh?” He seemed to know who I was. ” Come sit by me a bit” Not knowing what else to do I stood up straight and walked slowly over to him and sat on the grass. “Do I know you” I asked. I still couldn’t make out his face.”Oh, we may have met once or twice.” he said. ” The others are busy tonight. I was by myself with nothing going on so I asked if I could watch over you and your family”. He was looking at me with a smile on his face. “HE thought it was a great idea. I hope you don’t mind” he said.”No not at all. ” I said. Not sure about what was going on and I wasn’t sure what else to say except “Thank you”.
He took another drag and threw the butt towards the street. It was gone before it reached the sidewalk. “With everything you and others have done and go through every day “HE” wants to give you and those like you and your loved ones some relief and a feeling of safety at least on this one night.” At that he stood up and started to walk towards the fence. “Well, back to work. You and your family sleep easy tonight. I have your 6.” He started to dim and the last that I saw him before he faded from sight he was turning the corner by the fence. “Merry Christmas Chief. and your brothers that went before send their best. ” And he was gone.
Calm washed over me and I felt a sense of ease I haven’t felt in years. I knew then that he was like me, maybe a fellow warrior I had walked 
with in the past in some far off land and at least for tonight I could relax. As I walked towards the house I could still smell the smoke from his cigarette as I thought of those Heroes that I served with. A small rabbit ran in front of me, stopping and looking up at me for a second before he resumed his run towards where I threw the grain. As I opened the front door I thought I heard a voice saying “Hey little guy, Merry Christmas. Come eat there’s plenty and no hunters”. I looked to the sky once more, whispered “Thank you” and threw a salute as I went inside.
I often wonder who he was, how he died. Was I there, could I have done something to help him? Is there anything I can do now? Is he at peace? Questions I may never be able to answer I suppose. I was given a gift. One I shall never forget. Christmas day was wonderful. Filled with laughter, food, family and fellowship. As the children left and went back to their own lives that night I waved goodnight and before going inside I looked to the sky with a smile and a new sense of awe and an abundance of gratitude .5 I hope other warriors both serving and in civilian life can have at least 1 day of peace away from whatever demons they carry. Bless you all! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah my friends. May you all be blessed and remember the true reason for the season.
Serenity (Spooky CW4 USA Retired)
NSDQ
- NOTE: This may have happened on Christmas Eve of 2018 and this is the first telling of the story [↩]
- NOTE: I had a complete computer meltdown before Christmas in 2022 and was able to recover this and a few other stories from my database backup. Whew!! [↩]
- Individual Ready Reserve. Not active but on standby for call up at any time. No pay unless I was called but still ready and willing. [↩]
- An old saying I heard somewhere. May you never be so old that you don’t search the sky on Christmas Eve [↩]
- Was Christmas Eve a dream or did it really happen? I may never know. It could just be a story from the fertile mind of an old warrior. [↩]