Origin of poem
It is indeed a great poem and reminds us of something we often take for granted. This poem was also sent to me in Dec 2000 by a mate who was serving on HMAS Manoora in the Solomon Islands over that christmas period. The poem was distributed amongst the ship's crew to pass on to their families with the story that the poem was originally written during the Korean war. Of interest, the soldier in that poem was given as an Australian, but the story didn't give the nationality of the original author. But that's irrelevant, really, as we should take time out to think of all servicemen who are serving overseas and are deprived of the company of their families during christmas. The terms "Armed Services" and "Servicemen" are dropping out of official useage in favour of "Armed Forces" and "Professional Soldier". We really do need to remember they are there because we asked them to be there and they are doing a service on our behalf.
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