Written by Bob Rabe
Vietnam veteran Bob Rabe shares a beautiful Christmas moment from 1966.
It seems like yesterday, December 25, 1966. While on patrol with my fellow Military Policeman, we came upon a Vietnamese Catholic Church. Mass had already started, but we entered the church quietly anyway. While we stood in the back, the Vietnamese priest noticed us. He spoke to the congregation in Vietnamese and suddenly and much to our surprise they turned to face us, and we received a standing ovation. It seemed like it went on for 10 minutes. When mass finished, we left the church quietly and continued with our Patrol. This will always be special part of the Christmas season for me. May your Christmas be filled with fond memories and new ones created.
Bob Rabe
Company A, 504 Military Police Battalion
TUY HOA South Vietnam
Image: Mang Lang Church, near Tay Hoa (Đông Hồ, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)