Van of Valor

Editor’s Note: This music video pairs the original “Soldiers Christmas Poem” (written by Marine Lance Cpl. James M. Schmidt in 1986 and officially published in Leatherneck magazine in 1991) with authentic combat imagery to visually recreate the poem’s narrative.

New Video Sets ‘Soldier’s Christmas Poem’ to Authentic Afghan War Footage

By Lauren Wallace
Van of Valor

NORTH PORT, Fla. – In the dusty, remote valleys of Afghanistan’s Badghis Province, the holiday season often passed not with carols and quiet nights, but with the crackle of radios and the distant echo of gunfire. 

Now, a powerful new video project is bridging that world with a timeless holiday sentiment, using real combat footage to give visceral weight to the iconic “Soldiers Christmas Poem.”

Published today on the veterans’ history platform www.HelpVoV.com, the music video meticulously pairs the original 1986 poem by Marine Lance Cpl. James M. Schmidt with visual records from one of the war’s most challenging battlefields: the Bala Murghab District.

The project is more than a simple slideshow; it is a deliberate historical recreation. Every scene of mud-brick compounds, snow-dusted outposts, weary soldiers on patrol, and stark operating bases is authentic. 

The footage and photographs were captured between 2009-2011 by Department of Defense journalists embedded with units fighting to secure the volatile area. Van of Valor cofounder Dr. Kevin P. Wallace, then Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace, attached to the renowned Bull Dog Troop, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, was one such journalist.

The “Soldiers Christmas Poem,” sometimes titled “A Soldier’s Christmas” or “Merry Christmas, My Friend,” holds a unique place in military culture. 

Penned by then-17-year-old Lance Cpl. James M. Schmidt in 1986 while stationed at Marine Barracks Washington, D.C., it was first officially published in the Corps’ iconic Leatherneck magazine in December 1991.

Its poignant reflection on a soldier’s lonely holiday duty, contrasted with the cozy domestic scenes back home, struck an immediate chord. 

However, in the decades since, the poem has taken on a life of its own online and in chain emails, often heavily altered and almost always misattributed to an anonymous “Korean War veteran” or found in a “soldier’s pocket.”

“This project is, in part, an act of reclamation,” said the video’s creator Dr. Wallace, admitting he takes personal issues with Lance Cpl. Schmidt’s work went uncited; it happened to him dozens of times throughout his career. 

“It’s about restoring credit to the actual author, Schmidt, a lance corporal doing his job to bring recognition to the forgotten soldier at Christmas,” said Dr. Wallace. “I aim to present his original, powerful words credited to the Marine who wrote them. But more importantly, it’s about grounding those words in a specific, real-world context for a post-9/11 generation of service members and their families.”

The authenticity of the video hinges on its visuals, all credited to the service members who documented their reality. The primary visual archivists are:

Dr. Wallace, the then-Tech Sgt. Air Force combat photographer, who earned a Bronze Star with Valor and Purple Heart during conflict in which (then) Petty Officer 1st Class John Pearl, a U.S. Navy journalist, captured.

Then there’s the photos submitted by soldiers of the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment. The scouts, forward observers, medics, and other cavalry troopers who lived the moments being filmed.

Their lenses captured the full spectrum of life in Bala Murghab: the tension of a dismounted patrol through Taliban-controlled villages, the concentration during intense firefights, the fleeting camaraderie over a rare hot meal, and the austere beauty of a Himalayan sunset over a combat outpost.

“We see a lot of generic ‘military tribute’ videos,” said Dr. Wallace. “What makes this one stand apart is its intentionality. It doesn’t use stock footage. It ties a specific, beloved piece of military verse to a specific place, time, and unit. It creates a direct lineage from the author’s sentiment to the lived experience of these soldiers. That connection is incredibly powerful for those who were there and deeply educational for those who weren’t.”

The video serves as a bridge. 

For veterans of the Afghan campaign, particularly those who served in the notoriously difficult Badghis Province, it is a stark and validating reminder of their service. The terrain, the equipment, the posture of the soldiers — it is instantly recognizable.

For older veterans and the general public, it provides a contemporary visual answer to Schmidt’s 1980s-era words. 

The poem’s themes — isolation, duty, sacrifice, and the yearning for home — are universal and the filthy truth anyone who has served in Bala Murghab knows, but this video vividly illustrates what those themes looked like in some places during the Global War on Terror.

As the holiday season approaches, this video offers a somber, respectful, and deeply authentic moment of reflection. It moves the “Soldiers Christmas Poem” from the realm of forwarded emails and misattributed folklore back into the world of tangible history, soldierly experience, and artistic tribute.

By marrying Schmidt’s enduring words with Wallace, Pearl, and the 7/10 Cav’s uncompromising visuals, the project on www.HelpVoV.com ensures that the Christmas spent in the trenches of Bala Murghab—and the spirit of all soldiers who have stood watch on a silent night—will not be forgotten.

To view the video, visit: https://youtu.be/ZrFnHF32Rbc

To donate or offer support to the Van of Valor mission, visit www.HelpVov.com