Twas the Night Before Christmas - Djibouti Style

Twas the night before Christmas - Santa wanted to hide,
He had just taken and failed his yearly check-ride.
The examiner said, trying not to sound sappy,
Your takeoff was fine, but your landing was crappy.

“The children!” said Santa, “will have nothing to savor,
What's the chance, just this once, of getting a waiver?”
“No way!” Said the FAA-man; you must make other plans,
To deliver your toys to all of the lands.

While down in Djibouti, all snug in their beds,
With visions of home going round in their heads,
Was a unit from Georgia of the Army National Guard,
No mission too small, No mission too hard.

While Santa was thinking, this is a heck of a fix,
When he suddenly thought of the C26
I'll bet that this unit is looking for action,
And I with their help, I'll get satisfaction.

Santa reached for the hot line, and his eyes got all steely,
And he said to himself, I'll just call John Ely.
There are children all over from Djibouti to Fargo,
Looking to you guys to carry my cargo.

Then Chief John told the group, we will do what we can,
To deliver their toys to kids all over the land.
Then Jeff told Hardy, I'm feeling down cast,
Cause to cover the world, we can't fly that fast.

Then Kimberly said, don't be an old Grinch,
I'll tweak up the engine with elf dust and this wrench.
You can depend on me to do my duty,
I'll have this thing ready to fly from Djibouti.

Big Al and Dupree got their maps in a pile,
And both of them said, "This might take a while"
Then Al had a thought that was very pleasant,
I have a GPS I was giving as a present.

We will do what we can, and do our darn best,
We will start in Djibouti and then deliver the rest
Al said, “I will run, swim or fly
Whatever it takes, I will give it a TRI

They pushed up the throttle, and started their roll,
It looked like the guys had it under control.
The plane started airborne and away it flew,
With a plane full of toys and St. Nicolas too.

While Santa, in back was checking his list,
Thank God for the Guard, no child will be missed.
Then I heard him exclaim as they flew out of sight,
“Merry Christmas from Djibouti…Ya'll have a good night!”