A Christmas story of genuine servant leadership

I love to share this story, as I hope that it helps someone to see the value and lasting impact of servant leadership. When I was in the Air Force I spent my first two years of permanent duty assigned to a communications base located in the beautiful countryside of England. We, being a communications site, had someone always working, 24/7/365. Communications NEVER stops and someone always has to be on duty to take care of any/all needs. My being one of the low-ranking folk in our shop, and being that many others were married, had kids/family, and they had "done their turn" in the past, I was designated to work on Christmas day during my first year assigned there. I remember that it was actually a very quiet day, work-wise. Those of us who were working were treated to snacks, all sorts of Christmas well-wish-messages were coming in over the communications links. It was a nice time. At a point during the day I could hear a lot of talking coming from the area of the computer room just outside of where our shop was located. It sounded like a sizeable group of people, which struck me as odd. I walked over to the doorway into that area and I saw a contingent of people standing out by the operations consoles. I saw our base commander in his full-blues uniform, amongst the group. This guy was a full bird colonel. For those not familiar, he was just one rank away from being a one-star general, ie a Brigadier General. Let's just say, this guy was high-ranking. The group made its way through the building, going into one shop and then another and then another. Then they came back into our shop. The Colonel came over and shook our hands (2 of us were working), and asked us how the day was going. We chatted just briefly, and he said to us something like, "The reason I am here is that I personally wanted to thank you for being here today. I know it is Christmas Day. But we all know that the mission has to continue, and somebody has to man the shop, so to speak. I want you to know how grateful I am for you being here." Then, the contingent left and he went onto the next shop. I was told that he did that every year, and he would go to every single shop, and on every shift, and personally thank every single person who was working that day. He would spend time at home with his own family. But at some point in each shift (including the middle of the night) he would put on his dress blues and go tell his people how much he appreciated them. To further add to that.... every shop was a communications shop. Everyone had some level of a security clearance... some more than others. There was a lot of preparatory access requirements he had to go through in order to be allowed and given access to each shop. He had the necessary clearance to be given access. He just had to request it for places where he wasn't part of the normal workforce. Our building was probably the epitome of that, as every person who worked there had to have a Top Secret/SCI clearance. He, obviously, had that, as well. But, he went though all of the effort to make every visit happen, and... as I mentioned previously... he was known to do that every single year on Christmas Day. That event took place now 44 years ago, and it still sticks with me, powerfully. That is, by far, one of the greatest examples of servant leadership that I have personally witnessed. The Colonel is still living. I know him through family members. Here's to you, Colonel! My turn to say, "Thank you" to YOU for serving! Have you ever experienced a similar situation like that, be it in any area of your life? Has it inspired you to serve in a similar way?