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Date Posted: 02:44:14 12/20/14 Sat
Author: The Chief
Subject: 
The Gifts at The Wall
Hey everyone. I've been contemplating this for about two weeks now, and finally put it into an essay. While I had mentioned it briefly on Facebook on the forDJEfans page, I thought I should expand on my thoughts for you all. It all revolves around Harm's annual Christmas Eve visits to The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial (The Wall).
I will post it inside the first comment below. Let me know what you think.
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The Gifts at The Wall -- The Chief (it might need a little editing for punch and avoiding some redundancies, but I think you'll like it!), 02:46:08 12/20/14 Sat
Harmon Rabb and the Gifts at The Wall…
By “The Chief”, December 2014
Harm always spends Christmas Eve at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, aka, “The Wall” – the only place where his father’s name is memorialized.
The first we hear of this is in “Jaggle Bells” (season 4) – he tells Jordan that’s what he does and she says, “How sad.” Then they change the subject. Looking back, I didn’t really think much of her comment then, but I don’t really think it’s a “sad” thing what Harm does. Maybe in the sense that he as “nowhere else to go”, but spending a few moments “with” his dad on Christmas Eve is a poignant and thoughtful thing to do, and not really sad. It’s a way for Harm to connect, and that’s important for him. Therefore, Harm may be “by himself”, but in his mind he is not alone.
Season 5 brings us to “Ghosts of Christmas Past”. This is the first time we actually SEE Harm at the wall. Right at the beginning of the episode he is there, paying his respects. Out of the mist and darkness steps Jenny Lake. Jenny tells Harm a detailed story about his father’s last few days before being shot down. Harm is mesmerized and absorbs every word. This is information that he did not uncover during his hunt for Harm, Sr. Nor was it told to him by those who knew – specifically, Tom Boone. Altho, Tom only saw a little bit of what happened, and wouldn’t have had opportunity to “debrief” his friend/wingman afterwards, so he probably thought it was best left in the past.
In the middle of Season 6’s “Family Secrets”, Harm stops by The Wall while he’s deciding to resign his commission in order to travel to Chechnya to rescue Sergei. I suppose he wanted to “confer” with his father about his decision. Not really sure if it’s Christmas Eve, because there seems to still be a lot of work going on in JAG Ops, but it’s certainly near Christmas. Mac materializes next to him, saying she and Renee are both concerned about Harm. He tells her of his decision and she tries to talk him out of it, but he’s determined. She provides wisdom in the form of questions that should make Harm stop and think, but he won’t be deterred.
In Season 7’s “Answered Prayers”, Harm stops by The Wall at the end of the episode. While he’s paying his respects, he notices a card stuck in the crack between the panels, addressed to Harmon Rabb, Sr. “the Father I never Knew”. Harm looks around, and standing next to him like a Christmas Miracle, an “answered prayer”, is Sergei. After a warm greeting, Webb is steps out of the shadows to explain how it all happened, then slips back into the shadows like a good spook.
“All Ye Faithful”, Season 8’s Christmas episode, brings us a wonderful scene at The Wall. Harm brings Adm. Tom Boone with him. Boone has never been to the The Wall on the actual anniversary of the day Harm Sr. was shot down. The memories are stronger. Then a young Lieutenant Clarence appears, fresh from finishing pilot training, but due to an emergency had to fly to DC and missed his winging ceremony. Harm decides to pull his own wings off his uniform to give to the young man, and makes Boone pin them on, because that’s usually done by an Admiral. The Lt tells them his goal is to become a Blue Angel. At that moment, a small bell on a memorial wreath tinkles in the breeze. Lt. Clarence, future Blue Angel, has gotten his wings.
The last time we see Harm at The Wall was in the Season 9 episode, “Merry Little Christmas.” This is the episode where Mac stands up as a character witness for Harm before the judge who will decide if Harm can be Mattie’s legal guardian. We don’t learn the judge’s ruling right away, and she was leaning toward leaving Mattie with her father. At the end of the episode, Harm is paying his respects at The Wall, and Mattie comes trotting up announcing that he is officially her legal guardian. A few steps behind is Mac, who has brought Mattie to Harm, and explained how it happened. Harm is visibly stunned, thrilled and thankful.
Season 10 did not have a Christmas episode, per se. “The 4% Solution” was similar to “Family Secrets” in that the story happened around Christmastime, but wasn’t specifically a Christmas episode. And we don’t see Harm go to The Wall, altho there’s no reason to believe he didn’t go that year, but we don’t see it happening.
So across 6 episodes we learn of Harm’s dedication to visiting The Wall on Christmas Eve, but we also see an amazing thing. While Jordan might have diagnosed Harm’s annual pilgrimage as “so sad”, that is not how those moments played out across the series. In each scene at The Wall, Harm may go alone, but he ends up with company. And not only that, but each person that comes to see him there brings him a gift.
Jenny Lake brings him a story about his father that he would have never known otherwise, and in that story we see another way Harm is like his father – helping another person hang in there and make it through. The “rescue the damsel in distress” gene was passed down from father to son, so that is a wonderful insight Harm learned about his father.
Mac, in S6, brings Harm common sense and wisdom, a gift he doesn’t open, but she has to try to give it to him anyway.
Webb brings Sergei – a priceless gift.
Lieutenant Clarence brings Harm a different sort of gift – the gift of giving back. Also, by now, Harm seems to have made peace with his father’s loss and in bringing Boone with him, gives Boone the gift of remembrance. And the “hat tip” to “It’s a Wonderful Life” (“Look, Daddy! Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.”) is delightful.
The last time we see Harm at The Wall, Mac brings Mattie to him. Another priceless gift.
I love how this theme ran through the Christmas episodes – and I just noticed it a week ago or so. I don’t know if it was intentional by the producers, but it certainly shows a nice arc across the seasons. And each gift is “family related”, surrounding Harm’s father, or Harm himself. To wax poetic, it is almost as if there’s a special magic for Harm at The Wall on Christmas Eve – as if Harm Sr. is orchestrating these visits in response to Harm’s pilgrimage. All of these priceless moments are the exact opposite of “so sad”, as Jordan declared, and maybe that was intentional on the producers’ parts – maybe they felt bad about assuming Harm’s annual trek to be sad, when in reality it was healing for him, so they wrote stories that could be wrapped up at The Wall to make it not only a sacred place, but a blessed one, too.
So, a big Thank You to TPTB at JAG for creating these wonderful moments for Harm – for giving Harm moments of joy and wonder at the place where he contemplates a sad moment in his life, and for using a place that generates such deep emotion for many Americans. These are the kind of “moments” that made JAG such a wonderful show.
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Great Essay! On what is my favorite JAG Christmas theme, and one of my favorite overall. (inside) -- Alicia, 12:17:51 12/20/14 Sat
Even someone like me can come upon it years later, and have it resonate-- they were and remain priceless moments, and yes even with an air of magic. So I will add a few babblings.
It's funny, every time I go to pull a Christmas clip I find myself at these moments, as to me they became the heart of JAG Christmas. I just might have to post them lol.
He was as you said given many gifts at The Wall.
I think it was great where in some ways he got missing pieces of himself and his life at the place which represented his greatest loss, and the event which would shape Harm for his life and many seasons to come :-). As the years played on, you got to see the different stages of him and in some ways the relationship between him and his father evolve.
Sitting here writing this, it just crossed my mind, how it would have been good to see his mom pop up one year there.
In S5, as he learns more of his father's final days before he was MIA, he learns his father was not perfect.
Humanity meets the little boy's now man's perception of his father. Harm Sr. was at the heart of why he himself had his wings, and it kind of came back full circle when he gave Harm Sr. his wings back. The salute, the utmost showing of love and respect.
In S6, who better than his dad would have understood the decision he felt he had to make, as history was in its own way repeating itself, on more than one level.
In S7, after that very poignant sermon by Chaplain Turner, it was that time. Nice non-verbals between Harm and Mac, and her tell him Merry Christmas for me, was a nice moment. She had a "moment" of understanding. At once again the place that represents his greatest loss, he is given something back--a part of his father that lived on. Harm Sr.'s past had come full circle, and Harm embraced it.
In S8, Harm and Boone at The Wall. Boone still dealing with his "ghosts", as Harm continued to do so. Of course I still don't get the year off part here--as with it being the defining moment of his life, Harm would know how long ago it was, even if tptb had issues with it :-)
I take the bell ringing one step further, it was Harm Sr.s approval of what transpired. Harm gave his father back his wings in S6, and now here Harm was in a sense passing on his own wings to Clarence. His wings were a very deep connection to his father, and his whole being, but now at this stage he, his connection to his dad etc. had evolved past that, and he was not defined by his wings. Of course, my mind takes it back to when Mace gave Harm his wings at the beginning of his JAG journey, as well as in Angels 30 when the question of Harm's destiny came into play.
In S9, Mac gives Harm the gift of Mattie. No better place for it to happen, as under his dad's watchful eye, Harm was getting the chance to be the father that Harm Sr. was robbed of. Another piece of Harm was falling into place, and the family was coming full circle. He knew what it was to be a son, now he'd learn what it was to be a father.
In S10--well it gets real dicey for me here. I don't see Four Percent Solution as a Christmas episode. When Mac asks Harm if he went to the wall, and he says he will go next year and she smiles-- I really disliked Mac at that moment, and really disliked that whole exchange. It went against everything I thought the past Christmas shows had shown, and was not in line with 9+ seasons of Harm's character.
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Interesting additional points Alicia. but I have to ask, how would you have done season 10 to fit the other seasons and Harm's character? -- usmgrad, 16:23:49 12/20/14 Sat
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hmmmmmm (inside) -- Alicia, 17:50:21 12/20/14 Sat
Tough question, especially in light of the way season 10 played out.
One simple nip/tuck for me would have been Harm being at The Wall, and as he was leaving getting the call about Mac on his cell phone. It wouldn't have been as deep as previous years, but I think would have kept the continuity of the arc somewhat in tact, and the episode could have played out as it did.
I am liking the idea of mom. End S9 and S10 was Harm finally becoming more at peace with his loss - which Harm acknowledged in his way in The Man on the Bridge, which actually preceded 4 percent. In S9 there still was a level of estrangement with his mom, and with his dad being shot down on Christmas Eve, there wasn't one Christmas he spent with her during the course of the show, or any evidence that she went to The Wall. Her presence there would have perhaps brought it full circle, and his healing complete.
Or running into now retired AJ Chegwidden there. That could of been a dynamite exchange due to their relationship and its events, and their shared commonalities.
There are other ways, but it would involve a whole re-write of Season 10 :-).
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I think 4% did have its significance in that Harm had finally accepted his father's loss and could finally put the living before the dead, although the episode is mostly focused on Mac. I think she smiles because she finally sees that. -- yiota, 02:06:21 12/21/14 Sun
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I only just now found the time to read this, and I have to say your insights are wonderful! I have a new appreciation for the writers and for Harm's annual visits to the Wall. Thank you for writing and sharing this! -- JJ Ronda, 22:03:34 12/30/14 Tue
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Great additional insights, Alicia!! (inside) -- The Chief, 22:57:51 01/07/15 Wed
I like your idea of having his mom show up in S10, reuniting the Family that once was. The ultimate gift. Maybe if there had been a Season 11 like DPB wanted, he could have picked up his mom on the way to the San Diego Airport to take her with him to The Wall on Christmas eve. Kinda glad it didn't end that way, tho. In my mind, he makes certain he is not needed at the JAG office in London so he and Mac can fly back to DC for Christmas Eve. ;-)
I didn't watch 4% when wrote this because I have serious issues with Seasons 9 & 10 overall, I don't own the DVDs (and don't plan to) so I couldn't even bring myself to look it up YouTube. Now that you remind me of that exchange, I dislike it, too. Harm spend 364.95 days of the year focusing on the living. He can spend 5/100ths of a day paying homage to his father.
Anyway, there seems to be so much symbolism associated with Harm's annual visits to The Wall. I'm glad we have the episodes we do have showing the "magical moments" there. Each one seems to fill in a gap for Harm, expand his view of how his life can be, and provide food for thought - for him AND us!
Also, you mentioned the giving and receiving of aviator wings, and that did happen a few times. But don't forget in S4, when Harm's Vette is stolen and he and Mac are looking at the empty frame in the chop shop, Mac picks up the knob from his stick shift to give to him. Embedded in the thick lacquer is a small replica of aviator wings. So, even Mac got to give him his "wings" back! ;-)
http://www.fordjefans.com/imagesf/imagesj4/SoulSearching/pages/120.htm
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Ah.. I have to ponder Mac and the wings return.. forgot about that one... Answered Prayers was on tonight on INSP. -- Alicia, 01:33:00 01/24/15 Sat
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I had never considered the visit to the wall in this aspect. Great essay. It's always interesting to see how we see things from a look back. Makes me want to go watch the Christmas episodes again. -- usmgrad, 16:22:14 12/20/14 Sat
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Just had a chance to read this excellent essay. See inside for more. -- JoyG, 00:43:45 02/15/15 Sun
Your description of the gifts Harm received at the Wall each year was very insightful and I agree they were not just sad moments. They were times to mark how Harm had experienced healing, acceptance, and was moving forward.
In the 4% Solution, I thought Harm was heading to the Wall when he got the phone call about Mac's accident. He was immediately eager to go to her and to stay with her because he was aware that she was his priority now, not his life time angst over the loss of his father. I thought Mac's smile meant that she understood that and accepted that she was his priority. Harm indicated they should both just enjoy that she was alive with no serious injuries. To me that indicated Harm could look at Christmas Eve in a new way: he could celebrate that Mac was still alive instead of focusing on the loss of his father. What I didn't understand was why TPTB didn't continue to move the Harm/Mac relationship forward based on the Christmas eve realizations during the following episodes in S10. They didn't really pick up that thread again until the final episode.
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