sorry, been traveling and missed this...
anyway
true xmas tree annihilation story!!!;
back in College, I was in ROTC. for me as many others, it became an alternate sorority/frat. these were the people we partied with, hung out with, got into trouble with and so on. we did also party with/at other frat houses. one wintry semester, one of the Squids (Navy ROTC) who was a DELTA member invited us (Army ROTC) for a Christmas party. it got VERY drunk. there were the way more than typical bras on the chandelier, panties on the elkhead, lampshades on the Marines sort of deal. I have some memories of that night including stopping one guy from sawing the legs off the piano as the piano bench was missing and his girlfriend was trying to play it sitting on the ground. things got
really out of hand when those of us in the Ranger platoon decided to launch an offensive at the fireplace... Christmas tree ornaments were plucked from the tree, held in the perfect grenade position, the top pulled off while shouting
"GRENADE!" and tossed into the fireplace. the lights were pulled off and the strings used to restrain Air Force Cadets and "other civilians" for their safety. when the tree was denuded as much as was possible (or clear to us in our rather altered state), it was then shoved into the fireplace, as far up the chimney as we could make it go (with a fire going in the fireplace). we were banned from that frat house after that