Elsewhere they would tell me to take this post to the water cooler. It's going to be very, very sappy. Cue Delilah.
There's a line in the linked song, "it doesn't feel like Christmas at all..." This is the fifth year since my retirement from the USAF and it's the first Christmas season for me that it doesn't feel like Christmas at all ... because I'm not celebrating it overseas.
I can't explain it. We returned from overseas in 1994 after 13 continuous years overseas, and then I spent another couple years overseas without my family in shorter segments. So, it's not like it was just last year. But maybe it took five years being away from 30 years of "buds" that it finally hit home.
Christmas overseas at fixed bases, temporary bases, bare bases, remote sites, --- too many, many stories. Too many memories.
1986. The first time on the Letterman Show. Wow.
1993.
2000: with the USAF Singing Sergeants.
2003.
2005:
2006:
2008:
2009:
2010:
2011: the 25th anniversary on the Letterman Show.
1995, 2000, 2005, and 2009.
Orchestrating the song.
Mash-up.
One of my best memories: "everyone" singing along with Lee Greenwood when his surprise hit, "God Bless the USA" came out -- I was in the officer's club at Rota, Spain. Wiki says the song was released in 1984; that's about right. In 1984 I was in Rota, for the very first time in my life, having just arrived in Europe less than a eight months earlier. The US Navy treated Air Force folks very, very nicely. I was always impressed how well the US Navy always treated us.
Dear Bruce, At Xmas
ReplyDeleteOverseas 1972 Osan AB
1973 Tailand NKP
1974 Remote Alaska, Cape Lizburne
1975 Remote Alaska, Delta Junction
1976 Remote Alaska, Valdez
1977 Remote Alaska, King Salmon
1978 Remote Alaska King Salmon
1979 Remote Alaska Delta Junction
1980 Remote Alaska Pump Station 10
1981 Remote Alaska Pump Station 10
1981 Remote Alaska Pump Station 1
1982 Remote Alaska Pump Station 1
1983 Mexico
1984 Fairbanks, AK
1985 Fairbanks, AK
1986 Montana
1987 Montana
1988 Fairbanks Ak
1989 Honolulu, Hi
1990 Honolulu, Hi
1991 Honilulu, Hi
1992 Honolulu, Hi
1993 Honolulu, Hi
1994 Honolulu, Hi
1995 Honolulu, Hi
1996 Oklahoma City
1997 Oklahoma City
1998 Oklahoma City
1999 Oklahoma City
2000 Oklahoma City
2001 Oklahoma City
2002 Fairbanks, Ak
2003 Baltimore Md
2004 Key West, Fl
2005 Key West, Fl
2006 Key West, Fl
2007 Key West, Fl
2008 Key West, Fl
2009 Key West, Fl
2010 Key West, Fl
2011 Key West, Fl
2012 Key West, Fl
You "beat" me. That is incredible. Thank you. I can only imagine how much more you appreciate Key West having had those Alaskan experiences.
DeleteWow, what a story. Thank you.