Timm,
Though my great uncle's letter recounts the events of Christmas Eve 1916, the story of the first can be found here.
http://www.firstworldwar.com/feature...stmastruce.htm
They were just soldiers, doing their jobs.
And on one dark night, found a way to reach out to each other, despite being told to hate them, to find something that we should all remember, and live by.
Peace,
DTS