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During wars, Christmas has been used as a distraction to an attack or a call for a ceasefire.
In 1776, George Washington used Christmas night to cross the Delaware River and flank the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton giving the American Continental Army a much-needed victory.
Adolf Hitler used the Christmas season to surprise allied troops, unleashing his largest counter offensive of the war on the Western front, in the 1944 Battle of the Bulge.
Richard Nixon decided in 1972 Christmas time was the right time to carpet bomb North Vietnam, unloading an unprecedented 20,000 tons of ordnance on industrial targets in Hanoi and Haiphong. Starting December 18 and lasting 12 days, 200 B-52s pounded sites. We lost 16 planes, all in an effort to get the Viet Cong back to the Paris peace talks. It worked; the Paris Peace Accord was signed a month later.
Christians attacking non-Christians during the Christmas season doesn’t do much for the morale of the aggressor. Not sure what Nixon was thinking because nothing militarily after that went right, as the Viet Cong caravaned into Saigon three years later.
It’s different when Christians are fighting Christians. Along the Rappahannock River in VA during the Civil War there were individual Christmas truces quietly occurring. Not only did the Confederates and Yankees speak the same language, both thought the same God was on their side.
Individual soldiers would communicate, questioning the war, their presence and talk about home especially around Christmas. These soldiers were more alike than different, engaging one another and slowly meeting, sharing items, coffee for the Southerner and tobacco for his new friend from the North. Christmas can do that, wishing life was different and praying about the way things should be.
The greatest Christmas truce story happened in 1914, during World War I.
Kaiser William II of Germany, for morale, decided to send hundreds of Tannenbaum trees to his troops who were in deep trenches enduring a long, bloody stalemate against the British on the Western front. In some areas the opposing trenches were just 50-100 yards apart, men could hear each other, many Germans spoke English.
On Christmas in 1914, British troops heard German soldiers singing Christmas carols; they responded with their own. Soon shouts of goodwill were exchanged and then one German yelled, “tomorrow we no shoot, you no shoot.” It took,..on down the British line the order was given, “don’t fire unless fired upon.” This was a very active front with continued artillery and rifle exchanges but not today, not this Christmas.
A German soldier raised his head above the trench, then another and another. They climbed out waving a white handkerchief; so did the British. The group walked towards one another in No-Man’s Land, climbing barbed wire, greeting, shaking hands, exchanging tobacco, food, drink and souvenirs. What a sight to see—civility reigned as both sides gathered their dead, improved their fortifications and looked to the sky thankfully.
Then miraculously a soccer ball appeared and a football game broke out. By this time hundreds of men had climbed out and joined the most improbable soccer game ever, as artillery blasts and the sounds of war could still be heard in the distance. Soldiers on both sides had cameras and memorialized this unlikely truce. These men did what their nations couldn't do—get along.
The Christmas truce of 1914 went on until New Year’s only to be lambasted by the commanders from both sides when they found out. “Don’t these men have any German honor,” decried a little known dispatch runner named Adolf Hitler who was shocked at the fraternization.
The Great War would go on until 1918 when an armistice was agreed upon. An armistice that General John J. Pershing, the overall commander of the allies, was against. He felt Germany should be occupied and their military complex destroyed or another war was inevitable in 25 years. Turns out he was right, but it only took 21 years until World War II.
The World War I National Museum in Kansas City, MO, gives the “War to end all Wars,” the respect and importance in our country's history it deserves. As does the John J. Pershing Boyhood Home Museum in Laclede, MO.
Old friend Denzel Heaney is the director in Laclede. We completed a great podcast about the truce, General Pershing and the War, that can be heard at bobfordshistory.com
Wouldn’t it be something if just for one day, no matter where or what religion, humans put down their weapons. War was created by man, has stood the test of time and keeps breaking out.
Respect differences. We are a reasoning being that needs to try harder.
Here’s to the Spirit of Christmas and to those that understand what the ultimate goal should be: ”Peace on Earth.”
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You can find more of Bob’s work including his Bob Ford’s History, Mystery and Lore podcast, on his website, bobfordshistory.com and on YouTube. He can be reached at Robertmford@aol.com.
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