Christmas at War

Christmas at War…it is an odd thought for the season of peace, isn’t it? But the sad reality of Christmas through the ages is that many generations have had to celebrate it on the battle field. This is their history and these are their stories.

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Christmas 1945: The Biggest Celebration of Christmas Ever

As peace broke out in 1945 a literal race began to get the world at war back home for Christmas. Historians have called the Christmas of 1945 the biggest celebration of Christmas ever. In the below edition of the Merry Little Podcast we discuss…
Christmas at Valley Forge
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Christmas at Valley Forge

Picture it: George Washington leads his army of 11,000 men – a third of which he estimated did not even have shoes – into Valley Forge just before Christmas 1777. There, just days before Christmas on the 19th of December, the Continental…
Christmas War
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Santa Claus at War

Christmas is a traditional season of peace but even Santa straps on the uniform of a soldier when called to duty. Over time Santa has been "enlisted" in the cause of one side or another in periods of war. Not surprisingly, most of the images…
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The Christmas Candy Bomber

The epilogue to World War II was the massive effort made to recover war-torn Europe. For months and even years following the war times were lean as millions scrambled to recover lives. U.S. President Harry Truman led a massive effort –…

Christmas 1944

The story of Christmas 1944 was started on D-Day -- June 6th, 1944. With the invasion at Normandy everyone then knew for sure that Christmas of that year would certainly be different. That same argument could somewhat be made for Christmas…
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The Year Santa was Nearly Banned

It is interesting to note in this day and age when Christmas shopping can be done on a device you hold in your hand and whatever it is you buy can be shipped to your home without you ever getting dressed what it was like 97 years ago as the…
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Military Voices Carol of Christmas

Being the 100 year anniversary of The Christmas Truce we've heard and seen a lot in emotional ways of that great Christmas event. The video for the song was filmed at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey and contains original…
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The Christmas Legend of Abraham Lincoln

By B. Francis Morlan Abraham Lincoln is consistently ranked as the greatest American president. But at the same time his place in history is frequently debated for a variety of contrasting reasons: Constitutional scholars claim that Lincoln’s…
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Christmas During the Civil War

By Mary Hansel Christmas is a joyous time. People spend the occasion with family and friends and their celebrations are full of rejoicing, love and jollity. It is hard for us to imagine what it would be like to have Christmas during war time,…
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Washington’s Christmas at War

By Jeff Westover It would be a Christmas to remember. And it would be a Christmas that made history and inspired a budding nation. The story of Washington crossing the Delaware in the middle of the night is so well known that many forget…
Somewhere in France
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Somewhere in France

He was a man -- that's all. A man like any other man. His story is one shared by many of the millions who fought in World War II. Fate intervened not once -- but twice -- to remove him from a train just before it left the station. In both cases…
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Christmas During the American Revolutionary War

By Hollee Chadwick The American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence was fought between Great Britain and the thirteen British colonies between the years 1775 and 1783. The mutinous colonists declared themselves…