He Celebrates This Christmas With Jesus

By David Hinz

Yesterday, as I went about my yearly duty of delivering Christmas presents to those who use mail order or the internet to do their Christmas shopping (Fedex), I listened to Frank Beckmann on WJR Radio, speak to the father of an American serviceman, Sergeant Eddie Jeffers, who was killed September 19, 2007 in Iraq.

The father, David Jeffers has written a wonderful piece at The New Media Journal entitled, "His Best Christmas Ever." His father points out, that although his son has died;

And because Eddie is with Jesus, this will be his best Christmas ever!

If the name Sergeant Eddie Jeffers sounds familiar, it might well be because of a New Media Journal piece that he wrote entitled Hope Rides Again back in February. That piece has become one of the internet's most passed around articles, forwarded from email list to email list. Hope Rides Again talks about both the fears and the hopes of war.

I stare out into the darkness from my post, and I watch the city burn to the ground. I smell the familiar smells, I walk through the familiar rubble, and I look at the frightened faces that watch me pass down the streets of their neighborhoods. My nerves hardly rest; my hands are steady on a device that has been given to me from my government for the purpose of taking the lives of others.

I sweat, and I am tired. My back aches from the loads I carry. Young American boys look to me to direct them in a manner that will someday allow them to see their families again...and yet, I too, am just a boy....my age not but a few years more than that of the ones I lead. I am stressed, I am scared, and I am paranoid...because death is everywhere. It waits for me, it calls to me from around street corners and windows, and it is always there.

A two year veteran of Iraq and the battle for Ramadi, his piece is a indictment of the anti-war peace movement, the congressional Democrats and the MSM. I recommend that you follow the link and read it in it's entirety. To pull a salient quote from that piece:

We are the hope of the Iraqi people. They want what everyone else wants in life: safety, security, somewhere to call home. They want a country that is safe to raise their children in. Not a place where their children will be abducted, raped and murdered if they do not comply with the terrorists demands. They want to live on, rebuild and prosper. And America has given them the opportunity, but only if we stay true to the cause and see it to its end. But the country must unite in this endeavor...we cannot place the burden on our military alone. We must all stand up and fight, whether in uniform or not. And supporting us is more than sticking yellow ribbon stickers on your cars. It's supporting our President, our troops and our cause.

He wrote that piece for New Media Journal on February 1, 2007. He was killed in a rollover accident on September 19, 2007. This will be his first Christmas in heaven. In his piece, his father states;

It almost seems ironic at times that “Mundy,” as he was known in his unit, would survive two tours of intense combat, some at close quarters, only to die in a vehicle crash. I believe this was all part of God’s plan.

Please read the entire piece, his father says it so much better than I ever could. Each and every one of us, throughout our lives, touch many other lives. Eddie Jeffers, both through his service to his country, and through his writings about that experience, has touched millions.

Christmas is a time for reflection, as well as a time for celebration. This Christmas, let us reflect on our servicemen and servicewomen far from home, and what their service means to all of us.

Merry Christmas