(Once again, since I like using names, I'm using the name Joseph.
This one-shot is loosely based on the song Belleau Wood by Garth Brooks, one of my favorites.
Football in this for folks who aren't familiar is soccer.
I'd recommend you check out this story. One of my favorites. I also credit the information to History.com, as that helped me write this one-shot.
Hope you all enjoy, and have a safe and Merry Christmas!)
Joseph woke up the morning of 25 December 1914 to near silence. 'Twas an odd thing in the midst of a world war.
The sound of Germans singing carols caught his attention. Stille Nacht the Germans were singing. Brass bands joined in at various points, accompanying the Germans.
Joseph, through a surge of courage or stupidity, or perhaps both, stood in his trench and sang along to Silent Night.
As dawn crept above the horizon, many German soldiers left their trenches. They approached the Allied lines across No-Man's Land calling out Fröliche Weihnachten, or Merry Christmas.
Joseph, like others, feared this ploy to be a trick. But the Germans were unarmed as each climbed from the muddy trench.
The Germans, in a gesture of goodwill, shook hands with the men they called their enemies.
Throughout the day, the men exchanged gifts, mostly of cigarettes and plum puddings, as neither had a lot to offer.
They sang carols in their native language, sounding a chorus of German, Russian, French, and English alike.
Some even chose to participate in a game of football.
As they day went on, more and more men participated in the truce.
But, as quickly as it had come, it ended.
The early morn of the twenty-sixth of December brought about the ceasefire ended, bringing about the fighting once more. No more were the men acting cordial. They were enemies once again.
Joseph thought back to only hours before. Perhaps, if a Christmas truce could happen like so, the war wouldn't last all that long.
Oh, if only he knew.
Heaven, which had once seemed so far away, was on earth for just one fleeting moment. Where there had been doubt and fear, there was hope and joy. Maybe all wasn't as hopeless as it seemed.
