A Christmas Story: Seven Candy Canes

A CHRISTMAS STORY

Seven Candy Canes

We were a very small unit of air boats that belonged to the Ninth Infantry Division. We were brought into a large river area, northwest of Saigon and near the fringes of the Ninth Infantry Division that bordered along the Twenty-Fifth Infantry Division. We had discovered a bridge that went over a large river and we decided to camp there for the next few days, as we'd be making patrols in the area.

As we were standing around, watching the last of the sun go down, we noticed that three trucks were speeding in our direction. We knew they were probably headed for a safe haven, for we all knew that the night belonged to the enemy. As they approached the bridge, we could hear screeching brakes. As the trucks came nearer, they stopped up above us.

One of the men in the truck yelled down, "Is this the Ninth Infantry air boat outfit?"

Of course, we yelled back, "Yeah, that's us.... what can we do for you?"

He said, "Great!" He opened the door, stepped out, and was pulling along a large mail bag. He opened it up, reached in, and pulled out a package. He yelled down to us, "Is there a Private Petrosine down there?"

Of course, I was astounded, and then I yelled up, "Yeah, that's me."

He said, "Great....catch!" He threw the package down to us, and luckily one of the guys was able to catch it. He immediately climbed back into the truck, saying, "Sorry guys, but we gotta get out of here!" All three trucks left.

I was handed the package. It was about 1-1/2 feet tall, a foot wide, and about 4 inches thick. At first, it seemed like there was nothing in it... it was as light as a feather. I shook it and could feel something shifting around inside. The rest of the men were kind of surprised, but yet happy that somebody had received something in time for Christmas. None of us had received any mail for four days, and to have this one package get through for me.... well, I was especially pleased.

We walked back down under the bridge to the little camp we had set up. One of the other men had already started a small fire. We did this whenever we could to heat up our sea rations. By now, the rest of the men were all underneath the bridge area. (We had left a couple of sentries up on top to pull guard duty for us.) As everyone snuggled in for the evening, and were getting their sea rations out, I decided to open up my package.

I cut the top of the package open and looked inside. I was a little confused at first, so I dumped it over and out slid a Christmas tree. I was completely startled, yet absolutely thrilled. Nestled within the Christmas tree, toward the top portion, was a beautiful little angel. Hanging around the angel and the entire Christmas tree were seven little candy canes, all wrapped and tied neatly with a bow. Everyone became dead silent. As I stood there staring at this Christmas tree, I looked around at my fellow soldiers and realized that everybody else had stopped what they were doing, and were just staring at the Christmas tree.

After a few minutes of complete silence, finally someone said, "Wow, look at that... a Christmas tree!" Right away, everybody crowded around, looking at it and poking at the candy canes and reminiscing about their Christmases at home. I took the Christmas tree and propped it up behind the fire on the side of the bank to light it up, so we could all enjoy it. We all settled back in, staring at the Christmas tree. Nobody opened any more sea rations - they just stared at the tree.

As I glanced around at everybody, I noticed that some of guys were getting teary-eyed. I had noticed that two of the candy canes were already broken, so I took them off the tree, tore open the cellophane wrapping, and told everybody to have a bite and pass them around. Immediately, the smell of the candy canes completely filled the air. Everybody started talking about Christmas at home and what it was like where they came from.

As we all sat there in the darkness, staring at our Christmas tree, it was a strange feeling... looking around at all of the men. We were Black, we were White, we were Hispanic, with one Oriental. I thought... how strange... this diverse group of men, sitting under a bridge, in the middle of Vietnam, staring at a Christmas tree.

A few more minutes went by when suddenly we heard one of the sentries on the bridge yell out, "Halt! Who goes there?" After a moment of silence, he yelled down, "There's an infantry squad coming in."

We were a little surprised at this, that anybody would dare to be on a patrol in the dark and moving around at this time of night.

As they approached our position, one of the first men yelled up to us, "We hear you have a Christmas tree... is it true?" Of course, we were a little surprised at how they would know this, but we said, "Yes, it's right here, come on in."

We all stepped back to make room for them and as they filed in to take a look, it was obvious to us that these men had been in the field for days. They were unshaven, dirty, wet, and looked like a real rag-tag army. As they centered in around the tree, I could see tears starting to swell in some of their eyes. Others were making the sign of the cross, and I could see that they were saying prayers to themselves and giving thanks for the holiday.

I decided at that time to hand them a candy cane. As I broke one of the candy canes off and asked them if they wanted to share some, they were thrilled and started to pass it around. As each person took a small bite, again, the smell of the candy cane was overpowering.

The men stood there for a few minutes staring at the tree, and then decided it was time for them to leave. As they left, one of our soldiers said to me, "How do you suppose they knew we had a Christmas tree? We just got it ourselves!" I said, "I have no idea."

We went back to heating up our sea rations and settling in for the evening with a warm meal when once again we heard, "Halt! Who goes there?" Another minute went by before the sentry yelled out, "We have another patrol coming in!"

Once again, the same thing... "We heard you have a Christmas tree. Could we see?" We were shocked once again. We moved out of the way and told them to come on in. Again, the men came in and snuggled around the tree.... just staring at it... all very quiet. I pulled off another candy cane, opened it, and asked them to pass it around and enjoy. They each took a small bite and then passed it to the next man. Again, I could see the prayers of thanks and tears of emotion moving through these men. After a few minutes, the patrol went on their way.

Over the next couple of hours, three more patrols visited us, looking for "the Christmas tree". I heard another man say, "How do you suppose they knew that we had this Christmas tree?" There was silence for a minute. After staring at the Christmas tree, someone said, "It was the angel... the angel in the tree told them where to come."

The rest of the evening, I read the small card that came with my package from my mother, over and over again. It was just a simple message telling us how much she loved us, how much she missed me, and that hopefully this Christmas tree would bring some joy to my life during a very difficult time.

Many years have passed since that Christmas Eve. Now, every year around Christmas time, I like to walk out onto my back patio just as the sun is going down. As the darkness starts to surround me, I can still plainly see those three trucks rushing down the highway to our bridge to bring us our Christmas tree. I sit there and I wonder, going over and over in my mind, how those men knew that we had that Christmas tree and how I had just exactly seven candy canes - one for each patrol that came that night.

My mother's simple act of kindness to bring some joy to her son on Christmas, in reality, brought joy to a hundred sons that night. As I sit here staring into the darkness, I can't help but wonder how many other men are standing on their patios, staring into the darkness and remembering the night they risked everything to see an angel in a Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

Love to everyone,

Bruce