Christmas Corporals

Christmas was only days away and my buddy Jim and I had both managed to wrangle a few days of leave to spend the holiday with our families.  His folks lived in western Tennessee so his pleasant companionship made me happy to add about an hour to the already long drive.

I’d drop him off, then head on to Southeast Missouri to see Mom and Dad.

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Evening formation was normally held at 1600 hours (4 p.m.) but the higher-ups understood that some of the young Marines would be traveling so formation was held a little early and we were released.

Jim and I climbed into my ’79 Trans Am and headed west.  My stereo was always on and there was usually an 8-track in the stereo playing Lynard Skynard, John Denver, AC-DC or some other of my favorite good old rock n roll, but this time we first tuned in to the local radio station to hear the weather report.

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My friend and I were both single and had small families waiting for us so, even with my gifts and Jim’s there was still room enough in the trunk for my tool box and both of our U.A. bags with clothes and toiletries.  U.A. stands for unauthorized absence.  Don’t worry, as I said earlier, we were fully authorized.  If you think old-fashioned gym bag, you get the idea.  If not, it really isn’t important anyway.

The back floorboard held a cooler with sodas to help keep us awake if we needed it, so the back seat itself was empty.  One of us could crawl back there and sleep while the other drove so we planned to drive all night and get home sometime around noon the next day.

I pulled in to a McDonald’s drive-through at Ashville, North Carolina to grab us something to eat, then we were back on the road and starting up the east slope of the Smokies.

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We talked about the Corps, music, weight-lifting, and girls so the first few hours passed quickly but, as the day ticked away, conversation lagged.  I pulled into the parking lot at a rest area in the mountains and climbed out to stretch, take care of necessities, and get some air.

Stepping out I was hit by a cold wind.  It felt like snow.  I shivered.  Maybe the weatherman was right.

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On other trips I had slept in my vehicle for an hour or two at that same rest area but we were both anxious to get home so it was back into my car and on the road, even as a few snowflakes drifted down in front of my headlights.

We drove on through the darkness as more snow fell.  It gathered on the sides of the lanes where tires didn’t smash-melt it.  As we neared the highest elevation of our trip we started to hit a slick spot here and there.

It went against my desires but I slowed a little so that I could keep a better eye on the road and driving conditions.

It was good that I did.

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Traffic thinned as smarter people and those in less of a hurry found a warm spot for the night.  Jim and I weren’t too worried though.  We’d be across the mountains soon and the snow should thin and stop and driving conditions would improve.

As we approached one of the long curves my headlights picked out some objects strewn across the highway ahead.  I slowed and negotiated through the maze of some unfortunate person’s Christmas gifts.

Off on the outside shoulder, a car was sitting with one taillight flashing.

I slowed more so we could study the mess.  Evidently someone had broken down and pulled to the side, or perhaps they had just pulled over to rest or wait for better weather.  As they sat there another vehicle, probably a tractor/trailer, had edged off the road and hit the car, smashing open the hatch and liberating the gifts which were spread out like the prizes in some Christmas piñata.

“See anybody in the car?” I asked.

“I didn’t,” replied Jim.

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It was not the time or place to leave somebody stranded in a torn open car on the side of the road so I eased my Trans Am off onto the shoulder as far as I could.  We stepped out onto the slick roadside and started back to the damaged car.  It seemed that whoever had hit the stopped vehicle had gone on and left the occupants to their fate.

We couldn’t do that.

Jim observed, “There’s nobody in the car.”

“Maybe the truck that hit them took them somewhere.  We need to go on before we get hit too.”

As we turned to go back to my car we heard a loud “POP!” followed by the sound of something dragging on the pavement.  Another car slowed and pulled over just ahead of mine.  A young woman stepped out as Jim and I approached.

She was the young mother of two small children who were sleeping in the back seat.

She almost cried, “I hit something.  It’s stuck under my car.  I’m trying to get home to my husband.  Can you help me?”

What are a couple of Marines to do?  “Yes ma-am,” I said, dropping onto my hands so I could see under her car.  Wedged underneath was the offending road hazard.

“Jim?” I asked.  “Can you pick up on the front end so I can crawl under?”

My friend grabbed the bumper and it was a relatively simple matter for him to lift enough to flex the shocks and coil-springs so I could squeeze under just a little.  I crawled back out and held up the child’s football helmet that had wedged there.

“There you go, ma-am.  You be careful pulling out on the highway.  You need us to follow you…to make sure you get somewhere safe?”

She shook her head.  “I’ll pull over at the first exit that has a motel or all-night service station.” 

She noticed our haircuts in that day of sideburns and mustaches.  “Are you guys in the army?”

We nodded, “No, ma-am.  Marines.”

She climbed back into her car.  “My husband is in the Army  He just rotated back from Germany.  He should land in to Nashville tomorrow.  I thought I had time to visit my parents in Asheville and make it to the airport to pick him up.  I know I shouldn’t be travelling but we haven’t seen him in more than a year.”

She hesitated for just a second, “You two may have saved Christmas for my boys and me…and my husband too.”  She started her car.

Jim and I started toward my TA.  “You tell your husband we said thanks for his service and Merry Christmas.”

She waved and wished us a Merry Christmas before pulling onto the highway.

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Her car was out of sight by the time we got to mine and started on our way.  The cold wetness had soaked into my clothes but, despite it, I felt a warmth spreading inside me.

At the next off-ramp we saw taillights pulling off way ahead of us.  From what we could see it was probably her.

Jim nodded in her direction and said, “Merry Christmas.”

I smiled and added, “And to all a good night.”

We drove on through the night.

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