Operation Christmas
By:AliasCWN
(I wrote this one sometime ago, but as they say 'timing is everything'. Have a happy holiday everyone!)
"What's wrong?" Tully Pettigrew entered the tent he shared with Pfc. Mark Hitchcock to find his friend sitting slumped on his cot. Tully hurried over to sit next to the other private. "Come on; tell me what's going on." He coaxed as the other man remained quiet.
"It's almost Christmas Tully."
Tully smiled, "Yeah, I know, only three more days." He eyed his friend soberly. "So what's wrong, don't you like Christmas?"
"Sure I do." Hitch hurried to assure him. "Christmas was always a special time at our house. We usually had snow, and a tree all decorated for the holidays. We always had outside lights on the house and we would put lights on the trees in front of the house too."
"So if you like Christmas, why are you so down? Are you homesick?"
"Yeah," Hitch admitted, "but that's only part of it."
"Then what?" Tully asked, confused.
"You know what I really miss?"
"No what?"
"The gifts."
Tully smirked. "You want gifts?"
"No," Hitch answered, shaking his head. "I like giving gifts. That's my favorite part of the holidays. I mean, I like the music, the Christmas meal, all the family getting together, going to church and spending time catching up on everyone's life….but I really like giving gifts. We usually give gifts to kids that wouldn't get much otherwise. It makes me happy to give them something to make their Christmas as special as mine."
Tully nodded, "Yeah it does feel good to give, doesn't it? I like giving my sisters and brothers their gifts. It was never anything expensive; we never had much money, but just giving them something to open." His eyes lit up with the memories of Christmas at home.
"Yeah, when I was younger it was just something I made myself, but it came from the heart." Hitch added quietly.
Tully bit his lip thoughtfully. "Hey Hitch, I have an idea. We have the next three days off, how would you like to try something?"
"Sure, what do you have in mind?"
"Come on, we need some supplies." Tully jumped to his feet and headed for the tent door, only glancing back to make sure that Hitch was following. He was.
The two of them hurried across the base toward the supply building. Tully led the way around the back, his eyes searching for the supplies he wanted. With a nod of satisfaction, he turned to enter the building, a smile of anticipation on his face.
"What can I do for you Privates?" The supply clerk looked up from his paperwork as the two men walked in.
"You have some busted up pallets out back, can we have them?" Tully motioned toward the back of the building.
"Why?" The clerk asked with suspicion written all over his face. "What are you going to do with them?"
"We were thinking of making Christmas presents for some of the local kids. I figure if we can get some screws and bolts, and maybe some string, we can make pull toys or just carve some of it into figures they can play with."
The clerk studied them for a minute. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah," Hitch told him. "We thought we could give them something for Christmas even if it was homemade."
"Come on," Tully told him with a beseeching look, "You're just going to throw them out."
"Okay." The clerk agreed, "Take all you want, but you'd better not do anything to get in trouble. I don't want this coming back on me."
"You got it." Tully told him with a grateful grin as he tugged on Hitchcock's arm to get him moving. "Let's go Hitch; if we're going to do this, we have a lot of work to do."
They made several trips before they decided to use one of the jeeps to carry the wood to their tent. Soon there was a fair size pile of broken pallets stacked outside of their tent.
Next they hit up the motor pool for any small pieces of wire they could use. The supply clerk sent them a box of screws and a ball of string. With all of their supplies piled either inside or just outside their tent, they prepared to start 'Operation Christmas'.
"What can we make out of all of this wood Tully? The slats would work for the bodies of the toys." Hitch sat on his cot turning one of the pieces of wood over and over in his hands.
"We can carve the thicker pieces. I used to do a lot of carving when I was home. It's a good way to relax." Tully picked a piece of wood out of the pile he had placed next to his cot. Pulling a knife out of his foot locker, he began to carve long strips off of the think chunk of pallet.
Hitch picked a thinner piece and began to work on his own toy. The two privates worked for the next hour in companionable silence. Each lost in concentration as they created their gifts. Finally Hitch blew the last sliver off the piece of wood in his hand and placed it next to the other pieces he had finished earlier. Rising, he sorted through the screws and bolts to add the final touches to the toy. He used screws to put the body together and bolts attached the wheels. A string to pull it along the ground and the toy was finished. With a grin he proudly displayed the finished product for Tully to see.
Taking the offered toy, Tully examined it with a critical eye. Hitch had crafted a small duck that waddled along the ground on legs that ended in small carved wheels. When pulled, the duck waddled crookedly from side to side. "Good thing it's not a swan." Tully handed it back with a laugh. He loved the way it wobbled from side to side on the uneven wheels.
"I like ducks." Hitch grinned self-consciously.
"Me too." Tully returned the grin as Hitch took the toy from his hand. Smiling, he slapped Hitch on the arm as he praised his efforts.
"What are you making?" Hitch asked, looking at Tully's carving for the first time in over an hour. "Hey, that's a cool horse!" He looked closer at the carving with admiration. The little figure wasn't finished but it was easy to see the flowing motion in the tiny carving. "The kids are gonna love that!"
"It's something that they know. I'm not sure just how many ducks they see in the desert."
"Then the ducks will be something new for them." Hitch declared confidently.
"That it will." Tully laughed happily. "At this rate we won't get a lot of toys made but I know where we can find some kids who will love these."
Hitch smiled at Tully's comment, forgetting his homesickness for the time being.
The two were still busy carving toys when Troy and Moffitt called from the doorway.
"Tully, Hitch, are you ready to go get something to eat?"
"Just a minute Sarge." Hitch called back.
Troy ducked through the door and paused in mid-step. "What's going on?"
Tully looked up from his carving with a grin. "We're making toys. Hitch and I are going to give them to the local kids for Christmas."
Troy and Moffitt stepped further into the tent to examine the completed toys. Hitch and Tully had them spread out on Tully's cot, waiting to put them away until they were finished for the night. There was only a few but each one showed careful attention to detail, a sign that they were lovingly crafted. The pull toys were jointed and rolled on hand-carved wheels. Each carved figure contained life like features that were perfect down to the last detail.
"I'm impressed." Moffitt remarked as he cradled the small figures. "How many are you planning on making?" He eyed the wood that the privates had sorted into piles according to size and thickness.
"As many as we can." Tully answered. "We're going to give them to every kid we see until we run out."
Troy smiled as he examined the toys. "I had a pull toy like this when I was a kid. I don't really remember it but it was in all of the pictures that Mom has of me as a toddler."
"Me too." Hitch smiled. "I thought that they would be easy to make and maybe the kids here don't have any."
"Well we can't have that." Troy responded as he put the toy back on the bunk. "Can you two use any help?"
Tully and Hitch looked up in surprise.
"Sure Sarge, we can use all the help we can get." Tully agreed for both of them.
"I can't carve." Troy warned.
"Maybe you could put the toys together, or help rub the edges smooth. We don't want the kids to get splinters." Hitch explained.
"After we eat." Troy agreed with a nod.
"Right Sarge."
Tully and Hitch put their unfinished pieces on the cot and joined the sergeant's for supper. They talked about other toy ideas while they ate, ignoring the conversations around them. Once finished, they returned to the tent to work on their ideas.
"Hey Hitchcock, Pettigrew, can we come in?" A voice called from outside, accompanied by a tapping on the tent wall.
Looking up in surprise, Tully called, "Come ahead."
The tent flap was pushed aside and three men entered. As they crowded in, they saw the toys. Reaching for them, they passed them back and forth in silence.
"You guys really are making toys." One of the newcomers said, he sounded surprised.
"Yep." Tully nodded. "Why?"
"We heard someone talking about it in the mess hall. They heard you talking about it and the news got around, we wanted to see it for ourselves."
"What are you going to do with them?" Another soldier asked.
"We're going to pass them out to the local kids." Hitch explained happily.
The three men exchanged looks before handing the toys back to Troy.
"Can we help?"
"Sure, what can you do?"
"I can carve," one answered, "though not as good as this."
"Maybe I could help put them together." Another offered eagerly.
"I don't know," the third answered honestly, "but you tell me what to do and I'll do it."
"Okay," Tully agreed, grinning at Troy and Moffitt. "Hitch and I are working on these things. Sarge and Moffitt have some ideas we were going to try; maybe they can explain them to you."
The three men nodded, their eyes still on the toys.
"This is going to be fun." The first one spoke again. "I can't wait for Christmas."
Soon all of them were busy working on the toys. Troy and Moffitt organized the new guys, giving them tasks that fit their talents. They all worked until bedtime, completing more toys than expected. Tired but happy, they agreed to meet the next day to make more.
At breakfast Tully and Hitch were approached by even more soldiers wanting to help. Again they left it up to Troy and Moffitt to organize the new guys. The wood pile was much smaller now and they expected to run out soon. Several of the new guys offered to cut the pieces into the needed sizes or carve the simple shapes like the wheels. Another one made sure that the wheels were all the same size and completely round. As a result, the ducks lost just a bit of their waddle but nobody seemed to notice. One guy offered to draw the shapes on the wood so others could carve them. The soldiers all worked side by side to finish the toys before Christmas eve.
Around noon there was another call from outside. The supply clerk stuck his head in the door, eying the crowded tent. "How are the toys coming along?"
Eager hands offered him toys to inspect. He nodded and pursed his lips, noting all of the detail in the carvings. "They could be better."
"Hey!" Someone yelled. "We did a good job on them. Do you think that you could do better?"
"Not on the carving," the supply clerk shook his head, "but a bit of paint would make them more colorful."
"Yeah, it would," Tully responded, looking up from his carving, "but we don't have any paint."
"I could fix that." The clerk answered with a sly grin. "Interested?"
"Yeah!" A couple of the guys answered immediately.
"A couple of you guys come over to the supply building, I'll get you some paint and a bunch of small brushes."
"Let's go." Two of them said, rushing the supply clerk out of the tent.
When they returned the toys were moved outside where they could be painted without making a mess. All the paint brushes were soon claimed by others wanting to help. By afternoon a jeep arrived with another load of broken pallets. The driver helped to unload the wood before he too offered to help with the toys.
"Tomorrow is Christmas." Tully announced as they cleaned up the wood shavings and stuffed them into a burlap bag. "Now we have to find enough kids to get all of these toys."
"We can help." The other soldiers offered. "Why don't we split up and cover the Arab sector as soon as it gets dark?"
"Great idea." Troy told them. "Let's split up the toys and start handing them out." He produced burlap bags and they began to fill them with the finished toys. Everyone present was amazed at the number they had managed to complete.
"We even have a present for Captain Boggs." Hitch announced with a smile in his eyes.
"Captain Boggs?" Troy asked suspiciously.
"Yeah," Hitch smiled. "I heard him tell his aide that he liked a fire in his fireplace to ward off the night chill but it was hard to start one without kindling. He said that he hated to have to keep chopping the wood for kindling but he didn't want to ask someone else to do it for him either. We can give him all the shavings from our toys."
"I'll take care of that." Troy offered. "I'll just leave it inside of his office door where he's sure to find it. We won't leave a name, just the shavings."
"We can tell him that Santa brought it." Moffitt suggested with a twinkle in his eyes.
"We'd better get moving, I don't want anyone staying out too late in the native quarter." Troy cautioned everyone to be careful because they knew the enemy had spies on the base. He didn't want any muggings or problems with the locals.
Splitting into groups, the men took their burlap bags full of toys and headed for the native quarters. Any home they knew had a child inside found a toy for each child on their doorstep on Christmas morning. The men moved quietly and quickly, making their appointed rounds in the still of the night.
When the last toy was gone, they headed for their tents to dream of Christmas at home.
On the German base across the desert plain, news of the night's activities drew puzzled frowns and worried communications. Spies had reported seeing the American soldiers leaving something on the doorsteps of the local Arabs. Annoyed that the spies hadn't checked to see what was being delivered, all they could do was speculate and worry.
Back on the American base, Tully and Hitch woke to the sound of singing. A group of soldiers were wandering the camp singing Christmas carols.
Hitch lay in his bunk and listened as the carolers strolled closer. "Now that sounds like home." He sighed happily, his eyes closed as he listened.
Tully watched as his friend enjoyed the music, a satisfied smile on his face.