Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep....

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for Stephanie and other dear ones here...


Chosin Reservoir, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea, December 2, 1950….

The blare of the horns visited them in the dead of night once again. Sounds meant to invoke terror, but the men in the foxholes had steeled themselves to the horror they faced almost hour by hour, even if the sounds would have set anyone else to frightened cowering. The boy hunkered further down in the hole, trying to keep from being a target like his buddies.

Between the long row of trees and their foxholes lay unattended bodies; left alone, covered by new snow while the peril still threatened each of the survivors. Help was due, and would come, they knew. The timing was the only hitch in their hope, since it still felt like help would not come in time. There had been an almost soothing predictability to the noise, however. So long as the horns blared, it seemed, it would be safe. When they ceased, the inevitable onslaught of the Chinese would come down on them with a vengeance. The boy tucked his head tight against his chest and prayed.

“Now I lay me down to sleep….”

Visions of being home and safe only a few years before filled his head as the blare of the horns seemed to fade at the gentle intrusion of the Andrew Sisters. He smiled as his vision was filled with a scene long held dear but desperately held secret. A tall woman was in the middle of the living room, dancing with her teenage daughter. The prom was just about a week away and she wanted her girl to be ready, even though no knock would ever come at the door with flowers and candy. It was a quickstep version of the same dance they did for just a few years after the head of the family lost his life on a beach in Sicily.

“I’d vote for you if I could,’ the mother said to daughter. Prom Queen would have been a great honor and a delight for both, but in 1947, it wasn’t something to hope for...ever. The girl nodded and smiled. Going to the prom would have been wonderful, but there, at that moment in her home, just being herself was a joy, even if that joy never left their living room.

“Maybe someday, honey.” Her mother held back tears. Loving, protecting, motherly tears that shed nearly every night for her child. She kissed the girl on the forehead and stepped over to the phonograph. In a moment, In the Mood wafted through the room as she resumed the dance with her daughter……

The music abruptly stopped; both in the daydream and in the cold real dirt and mud of the hillside that night, only to be followed by the loud crack of wood and steel hitting flesh and bone. The sound was quickly replaced by loud shouts and gunfire and screams in another tongue; unmistakable if unknown as a retreat signaled the departure of the Chinese soldiers.

“Jacobsen? Hey? Joey? I made it,’ the voice called from the foxhole only yards away. The young man was lifted to his feet from the grime and mud by one of the men responsible for his deliverance. He rushed over to the other foxhole in excited glee only to find his best buddy lying face up with sightless eyes. He knelt down, but there wasn’t any urgency in his gesture as he cradled the boy in his arms.

“Gee, sorry, kid,” the older man said as he put his hand on the young man’s shoulder.

“That’s….it’s okay, Sarge. I….” The tears began to spill; mostly from grief, but a great deal from relieved peace as he kissed his best friend’s forehead.

“I think he’s okay.”

“I’m sure he is, kid.” The man said, squeezing the young man’s shoulder once again even as his own tears spilled onto the cold ground. He looked down at the boy in the young man’s arms and it looked as if he was sleeping peacefully; a smile just barely noticeable beneath a smear of blood and dirt.

“I’m sure he is…..”



In celebration of Armistice/Remembrace Day/Veterans Day, November 11, 2014. For those who have served. In gratefulness for the sacrifice each has made and continue to make. And for those who have served and continue to serve in anonymity; in the open and hidden at the same time. Thank you!

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Comments

How true

So many died to help give us the freedoms we are still able to enjoy today. Be they men or women I salute both those who survived and those that made the Supreme sacrifice. Thank you for your service.

As I blink back the tears....

D. Eden's picture

All I can say is thank you.

As I sit every night before going to bed, I think about those I served with, those who kept me safe, those who made it home, and most importantly those who only made it home in a box.....

As I remember them and pray for their forgiveness for not being strong enough or good enough to keep them all safe, I also think about all those who served before me. I pray for them as well; I pray that they may find the peace that still eludes me many nights, and I pray that they may know what their sacrifice has meant to me, to all of us.

This story hit especially hard for me as my father served in Korea. No matter how big the divide between him and I, no matter how many serious issues we had as I grew up, no matter how much he tried to force me into his idea of who I was supposed to be, no matter any of that - I still love him. He is my father after all.

But more, I respect the commitment he made to go where most would not dare tread. I am proud to this day that I inherited that from him - that even though I disagree with many of the things he tried to teach me, he did instill in me the need and desire to serve. He did help me to find the sense of duty that I felt, and still feel, toward my country and it's people.

Thank you Andrea for this story, and thank you for reminding me of what I owe to those who went before me, as well as those who followed in my footsteps.

Dallas Foard
Captain, United States Navy (Inactive)

D. Eden

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus

Captain?

Andrea Lena's picture

Just before my sister died, she told one of her friends to convey a message to me after her passing. That she understood that I did the best I could to protect her. It is one of of the most freeing things anyone has or ever will say to me. I believe each and every one of your men who have preceded you into glory would say much more. That they look down on you and are both glad for your life and feeling better for having known and served with and under your command. I salute you and I continue to pray as your journey continues. God Bless!

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

Hmmm...

Dear Captain Foard,

I have yet to meet the person who is good enough, strong enough, or anything enough for that matter. We are all frail creatures with an unholy limited amount of resources and time. What enables us, or at least me, to continue on are the good souls who choose to add light to our otherwise darkened lives.

We all have our challengers to be sure; although I must admit that those you've probably faced were presented by the most foul of circumstances. Although I cannot relate to what some call the 'warrior spirit', I certainly recognize and understand it. I stand and applaud you, and those like you, who choose to protect and defend those of us who are the weaker and less willing. It is because of you that we can exist in a 'free' society (with its warts and all).

I am delighted that you've found my favorite authoress. Nobody I know explores our weaknesses and frailties with such depth and emotion and even humor and that you, as well as me, have taken something away from one of her writings that has brought you some comfort.

May You Know Only Peace...

Kelly

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Twenty-One Years Six Months

littlerocksilver's picture

That's how long I served. I was lucky in that I was never sent to where my life might have been in jeopardy. I feel so for the injured and maimed, both physically and mentally. I cry for those families who lost loved ones. Many were sacrificed for noble causes. Unfortunately, in the last fifty years, the nobility of the causes is in serious doubt. Few of those who sacrificed life and limb entered war with any doubt about the nobility of their venture. The truth comes late. McNamara and Rumsfeld's wars have cost us so much. We have a tiger by the tail. Will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?

Portia

My father served...

...He always hope we wouldn't have too. He had a great respect for service people but no love lost for war. Pulling the injured and dead from the wreckage of a hit to the USS Independence and sharing the story brought anguish only one brother got to see.

An industrial accident of which corporate ears turned a deaf ear to when he told them before hand. That accident brought the anguish and the visions rushing back as ghosts haunting his sleep. I think the sad truth is the lesson has been learned. People dying is an acceptable cost.

Thanks for sharing Andrea, I hope my thoughts are not too out of line.

Hugs, JessieC

Jessica E. Connors

Jessica Connors

Now I lay me down to sleep

Now I lay me down to sleep, was the bed time prayer that my father and mother would recite with me every night just before going to bed. This takes me back many years to my childhood.

A very touching short story.

Hugs,
Tamara Jeanne

Thank You for the hauntingly

Thank You for the hauntingly beautiful tale of a bad time in a bad place. I myself still see the faces of those who went to battle with me and didnt return... the years of guilt have faded somewhat but I still miss my teammates long live SEAL team 2 thanks again

You Never Fail

joannebarbarella's picture

To make me laugh or cry. This one is a definite "cry",

oh Andrea! you've managed to do....

It yet again hon, Elicit my tears sweetie! (Sniffle sniffle) So sad, a dream never to be realized, and another Momma's heart broken! Loving Hugs Talia

Sad but true.

gillian1968's picture

I served 20 years, but was never in that sort of danger. But one of my high school classmates died in Viet Nam. I heard a Korean War vet talk this summer. He was in a situation much like this, but he was captured. So this story really hits home.

Gillian Cairns

Thank you,Andrea

My dear friends Kelly and Joanne have said it for me,Suffice to say that on Tuesday next I will be at a Dawn Remembrance Service and the Ode To the Fallen will be said by all:

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun,and in the morning,
We will remember them.
LEST WE FORGET.

ALISON

I visited Normandy

This summer I traveled through European War memorials. Seeing all Wartime Cemeteries ending up in Normandy right on the Omaha Beach. I am glad that all those that saved my life from a much worse world. Standing on the very beach I just felt humble, and sent my thoughts and thanks to all those that secured the final part of saving Europe. After almost 70 years of peace in Europe I hope that we will never have to ask for such sacrifice again.
Ginnie

GinnieG

oh wow

thank you for a wonderful story. and for a good cry Awesome

MICKIE