At that moment, Krulak heard clicking shoes heels approaching down the marble hallway, joined by the clanking of a sword. Brigadier General James Mattis appeared, having been out walking his post in full dress uniform, complete with sword hanging at his hip.
“Jim, what are you doing standing duty?” Krulak asked.
“Sir, I checked the roster to see who would be standing duty on Christmas and one of the persons who was going to be standing duty was a man who had two young children,” Mattis said. “And, since I’m a bachelor, I figured why should I spend Christmas morning looking at my own little Christmas tree when we have a husband who’s got a wife and children who are going to miss their father because he is standing duty?”
Krulak would recall just shaking his head, amazed and admiring. His Christmas gesture of bringing the cookies had become a Christmas tale that would be worth telling for many Christmases to come.
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