A growing number of parents are opting to exclude Santa Claus in children’s Christmas celebrations.
These people fear that convincing children of such a fantastical story and later revealing that it is, in a literal sense, false, will undermine trust between parents and children, cause children to doubt their faith, or even result in childhood trauma.
Of course, there are still plenty of people who hold that Santa Claus is a valuable part of an innocent, imaginative childhood. But the anti-Santa camp seemed especially vocal this year, particularly among religious conservatives.
Those people may be shocked to hear that they are on the same side as the radicals who perpetrated the French Revolution.
Consider the revolutionary: one who believes that individual reason is supreme, that tradition is questionable at best, and that beauty, mystique, and ceremony have no place in a rational society.
During the French Revolution, these radicals spurned their nation’s political, religious, and cultural history as impediments to man’s liberty. They tried to eradicate French Catholicism, abolished France’s ancient regional borders, and even created a new calendar. Devoted to their own individual “Reason,” they disregarded all ancestral wisdom and attempted to create a new France. Unfortunately, these cool, rational, dispassionate men succeeded only in unleashing decades of brutal war first upon France and then upon the rest of Europe.
How does Santa Claus fit into this? It’s all in the ideology. Many Santa objectors reduce a familial, cultural, and (if properly understood) religious symbol to a “lie.” In so doing, they implicitly align themselves with the rationalistic French philosophes and their Marxist successors, who held that truth must be observable, quantifiable, and physical. No poetic beauty, no metaphors, no affinity for man’s soul.
On the other hand, we have the Claus partisans. Like the great Irish statesman and opponent of the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, they recognize the power of tradition, reverence, and beauty to shape a society. They recognize that man is spirit, not just intellect, and that to reduce him to his intellect is to dehumanize him. They recognize, in Burke’s words, that if “all the decent drapery of life is to be rudely torn off” and “the superadded ideas, furnished from the wardrobe of a moral imagination&#8230;are to be exploded as a ridiculous, absurd, and antiquated fashion,” man will be reduced to a barbarian. Like all good conservatives, these Claus partisans recognize that human beings are passionate creatures who need to be trained, not only in their reason but in their affections, to be virtuous.
In a certain sense, those who object to Santa Claus are right: the historical Saint Nicholas notwithstanding, Santa isn’t real.
But nor are characters in poetry, folklore, or literature “real.” However, as Russell Kirk wrote in his masterpiece The Conservative Mind, “great myths are true in essence, however fanciful in detail.” G.K. Chesterton, too, was fond of arguing that fairy tales are, in a sense, truer than bald facts. They instill in children a sense of wonder, an appreciation for miracles, and a firm sense of morality.
The Santa Claus story is true in its essence of gratitude, wonder, and joy in the miraculous. It is merely presented to small children in an allegorical way, which they can understand. It was this manner of oral tradition and mythmaking that held together the societies of Ancient Greece and Rome and laid the foundation for Western culture. We would abandon it at our peril.
In this sense, is it not insulting to our children to think that they are capable of understanding only the most literal, mathematical truths? Is it not far-fetched to imagine that a fairytale, lovingly passed on from generation to generation, will undermine a parent-child relationship?
Not all Santa objectors are morally deficient successors of the Jacobins. Some parents believe that if they reveal the Santa secret to their children, the children will no longer trust what they have learned about Christ. And indeed, if Santa has managed to supersede discussions about Jesus in a Christian household, it may be best to discontinue the tradition.
But this is not an inevitability. If Santa is a fun addition for a few weeks every year, and Jesus is the center of family life throughout the year, there shouldn’t be any confusion between them.
Emily Claire Boulet is a student at the University of Dallas.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Untitled design (98)

If You Don’t Let Your Kids Believe In Santa, You May Be A Jacobin

Christmas

France

Jesus Christ

Revolution

Santa Claus

If there were an award for the most moving Christmas ad every year, Chevrolet would win it hands down, no questions asked.
Last year, Chevy ran a heartbreaking commercial of a grandmother suffering from what appeared to be Alzheimer&#8217;s and a granddaughter who took her for a drive to rekindle memories. As they drove, memories came back to the grandmother, and when they returned home, the grandmother recognized her husband and her family.
This year, Chevy&#8217;s ad showed a middle-aged husband and wife traveling to their children’s home for Christmas, and the memories they shared of raising their kids as they recognized familiar sites along the well-traveled route.
“Are we feeding an army?” the husband asks as they prepare to leave. “Pies are in the fridge,” the wife responds succinctly. As they walk to their 1987 Chevy Suburban, the scene flashes back to another time they were leaving when their son was a toddler and their daughter was not much older, as the husband calls for the dog.
Back to the present: The husband, driving, turns to the quiet and pensive wife, suggesting, “Don’t keep all the good stuff to yourself.”
“I was just thinking about the first time that we did this drive,” she confesses, laughing, “The great diaper explosion of 1992.”
As they pass a Christmas tree farm, the scene flashes back to when their daughter and son were young children laughing as they drive along with a tree strapped to the top of the car.
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Passing an ice skating area outside, we flash back to their pre-teen daughter throwing a pair of ice skates in the car; then remembering the two kids arguing as the father said, “I will turn this car around right now,”: recalling when their daughter, now college-age, said tearfully from the back seat, “I don’t want to go back to college; he doesn’t even like me” as the mother comforted her and the brother consoled her by saying. “The guy’s not even cool enough for you, anyway”; and then finally arriving at their children’s home as the mother says wistfully, “They never made it easy, did they.”
The father replies, “Well, did you want it to be easy?” prompting the mother to respond, “No, I wanted it to be just like it was.”
As the family hugs and walks into the house, the screen offers, “The greatest journey is the one we take together.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This holiday season, make the kind of memories you&#39;ll never forget. Happy Holidays from Chevy. <a href="https://t.co/SpZVDviMqk">pic.twitter.com/SpZVDviMqk</a>
&mdash; Chevrolet (@chevrolet) <a href="https://twitter.com/chevrolet/status/1993694235552595978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Watch Chevy&#8217;s 2024 Christmas ad below:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EeaHlhDypFw?si=d2lotuNdJcaKXeee" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Chevy

The Greatest Journey: Why Chevrolet Wins Christmas Again

Chevrolet

President Donald Trump posted a Christmas message to everyone — &#8220;including the Radical Left Scum&#8221; — on Christmas Eve, touting a number of things that his administration has changed in just the first year of his second term in office.
Trump posted the message first on his Truth Social platform, and he laid out a few things he&#8217;d been critical of during former President Joe Biden&#8217;s time in office, explaining what he&#8217;d already done to usher in major changes.
&#8220;Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly,&#8221; Trump began, immediately pivoting to attack Biden&#8217;s policies. &#8220;We no longer have Open Borders, Men in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, or Weak Law Enforcement.&#8221;
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Trump followed that with a series of positive changes that he attributed to his own policies: &#8220;What we do have is a Record Stock Market and 401K’s, Lowest Crime numbers in decades, No Inflation, and yesterday, a 4.3 GDP, two points better than expected.&#8221;
&#8220;Tariffs have given us Trillions of Dollars in Growth and Prosperity, and the strongest National Security we have ever had,&#8221; the president continued. &#8220;We are respected again, perhaps like never before. God Bless America!!! President DJT.&#8221;
The tone set by the White House Christmas message just hours later was much more subdued, featuring a simple photo of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
MERRY CHRISTMAS! <a href="https://t.co/YJ9YYEf19v">pic.twitter.com/YJ9YYEf19v</a>
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/2004189679105773873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Department of Homeland Security posted a video, set to &#8220;Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Rejoice America, Christ is born! <a href="https://t.co/tZgLyTxkVn">pic.twitter.com/tZgLyTxkVn</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/2004208041605128250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Christmas night, 1776… The world slept while Washington crossed the Delaware. We carry his legacy,&#8221; the War Department said, sharing an image of then-General George Washington crossing the Delaware River.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Christmas night, 1776…
The world slept while Washington crossed the Delaware.
We carry his legacy. <a href="https://t.co/eFRDAwfewO">https://t.co/eFRDAwfewO</a> <a href="https://t.co/ePUt394Qdj">pic.twitter.com/ePUt394Qdj</a>
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOWResponse/status/2004235843448504500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Merry Christmas to all. Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May His light bring peace, hope, and joy to you and your families,&#8221; War Secretary Pete Hegseth added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Merry Christmas to all. Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
May His light bring peace, hope, and joy to you and your families. <a href="https://t.co/lycKvYq9eS">pic.twitter.com/lycKvYq9eS</a>
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/2004182968286564502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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US-POLITICS-TRUMP-CABINET

Trump Sends Christmas Wishes To Everyone — ‘Including The Radical Left Scum’

Trump Sends Christmas Wishes To Everyone — 'Including The Radical Left Scum'

Donald Trump

General

Politics

Social Media

Editor&#8217;s note: this piece was originally published last December. We&#8217;re rerunning it now in the hopes that it inspires you to view this classic Christmas film with new eyes — or for the first time. Merry Christmas!
***
After 70 years, it’s time to start taking “White Christmas” seriously.
Few will deny that the 1954 musical is a classic Christmas movie, but no one would call it a “classic” in the same vein as “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Frank Capra’s meditations on morality lend themselves to serious thoughts; Bing Crosby crooning his way through Irving Berlin ballads and Danny Kaye pratfalling all over the Technicolor sets, not so much.
But beneath all the schmaltz and snowfall, “White Christmas” is a realistic depiction of a country and people struggling to return to normalcy after years of war and conflict. Its willingness to confront that transition — as well as the social and commercial adjustments it requires — make it not only a true classic, but the perfect Christmas movie for the present.
“White Christmas” is the story of Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, World War II veterans turned successful entertainers who find themselves spending Christmas at a struggling Vermont inn owned by their former commanding officer, General Tom Waverly. With ample song and dance, Wallace and Davis manage to save the inn, romance a pair of singing sisters, and put on a spectacular Christmas show that ends with the titular song, just as the first snow of the season begins to fall.
<div id="attachment_704253" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-704253" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/White-Christmas-1024x576.jpg" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/White-Christmas-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/White-Christmas-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/White-Christmas-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/White-Christmas-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/White-Christmas.jpg 1920w" alt="A poster the 1954 musical romantic comedy, 'White Christmas', directed by Michael Curtiz and starring (left to right) Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen." width="1024" height="576" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-704253" />
Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images
</div>
Yes, it’s fluffy. But beneath that fluff is a story of transitions. Career soldier Waverly can’t make peace with peacetime, and tries to trade his pipe and slippers for a new commission. Wallace has done a better job adjusting to postwar life, but only because he’s thrown himself into work, much to the chagrin of Davis, who urges his partner to settle down and start a family.
This is really what “White Christmas” is all about. Think of it this way: the film only has one song about Christmas, but two songs about how hard it is for soldiers to adjust to civilian life.
That fact alone is enough to make us consider that “White Christmas” is about more than seasonal merriment — especially considering the film’s director.
Michael Curtiz is best known for “Casablanca,” an epic tale of love and loyalty at the height of World War II. While the two films don’t seem to have a lot in common, “White Christmas” actually serves as a quasi-sequel to “Casablanca.” So, in order to understand what’s really going on with Wallace and Davis, we have to look back to Rick and Ilsa.
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<div id="attachment_844887" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-844887" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1137157651-740x576.jpg" sizes=" (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1137157651-740x576.jpg 740w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1137157651-300x234.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1137157651-768x598.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1137157651-1536x1196.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1137157651-2048x1594.jpg 2048w" alt="" width="740" height="576" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-844887" />
(Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)
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Like “White Christmas,” “Casablanca” is set in the same year it was released. So, contemporary audiences would have seen each film as a commentary on their lives.
With “Casablanca,” that commentary was a call to arms. The film is famously stirring, so much so that the U.S. Office of War Information <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Round-Up-Usual-Suspects-Casablanca/dp/1562827618" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prevented</a> troops stationed in North Africa from seeing it out of fear it would incite violence against Vichy supporters in the area. And the Bureau of Motion Pictures <a href="https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/explorations/casablanca/bmp_report_casablanca.cfm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">determined</a> that “Casablanca” would help the Allies win the war by effectively showing “that personal desire must be subordinated to the task of defeating fascism.”
“Casablanca” isn’t just another war movie. It’s the ultimate war move, in that it drummed up support for the same war it depicted. Similarly, “White Christmas” is more than just a “feel-good” movie. It’s a peacetime movie, one that eased its audience back into normalcy by offering them a step-by-step guide to that end, and showing how happy their cinematic contemporaries were made by following that guide.
Early on in the film, Wallace begrudgingly admits his debt to Davis for convincing him to get into show business after leaving the army, snapping, “We did great, and I’m grateful!” Later on, the film reaches its emotional climax with Bing Crosby’s famous rendition of “Count Your Blessings (Instead Of Sheep).”
You’d be hard pressed to find a better metaphor for prosperity than an abundance of blessings so large, you can toss them off as you’re nodding off. But nowhere is this point better made than at the end of the film, when Wallace and Davis have reunited the members of the 151st Division to surprise General Waverly on Christmas.
Everyone’s happy. Most brought their families. Those whose careers we hear about are wildly successful. And at least one soldier has gotten so pleasantly plump that he can’t fit into his uniform, which gives the whole squad a good chuckle.
This is the point of “White Christmas.” That it’s okay be okay, to be successful and happy, even — especially! — shortly after a period of national tumult. Captain Wallace’s patriotism is not minimized by the fact that he became a successful entertainer, nor is his professional success minimized by his ultimate decision to settle down. He earned both turns, as did everyone else we meet in the film.
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<div id="attachment_844889" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-844889" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1262769670-707x576.jpg" sizes=" (max-width: 707px) 100vw, 707px" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1262769670-707x576.jpg 707w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1262769670-300x245.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1262769670-768x626.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1262769670-1536x1252.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-1262769670.jpg 1800w" alt="" width="707" height="576" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-844889" />
(Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)
</div>
Once we understand the central message of “White Christmas” — that you can and should embrace the comfort and normalcy that follows strife — we can appreciate what a serious film it is. First and foremost, it’s Curtiz’s answer to “Casablanca,” a balm for the people whose wartime passions he had only recently inflamed.
It’s also an ideal Christmas movie in the truest sense. Though it’s surprisingly light on the holiday’s commercial trappings, “White Christmas” is about the promise of a new start for humanity. The soldiers become singers, the singers become fathers. The wolf shall live with the lamb, and all that.
This was an essential message for postwar America. But it’s equally important today. Now as then, our country stands on a precipice. We’ve been fighting for years — about politics, culture, education, and more. For a time it seemed like we would never again return to normal.
But now, the opportunity to get back to normal is here. Yes, our country may be divided, and there are certainly many important fights worth having. But with a monumental election behind us, we now have an opportunity to turn away from the fray and focus on the things that matter.
“White Christmas” reminds us what those things are, and urges us to pursue and celebrate them.
The summer brought two presidential assassination attempts and as many Democratic presidential candidates. Let’s let the winter bring comfort and joy, promise and rebirth, and so many blessings you just can’t help but sing about them.

Cast of White Christmas

It’s Time To Start Taking ‘White Christmas’ Seriously

Christmas movies

musical

World War II

It may not be a white Christmas for most of the United States when people wake up to open gifts Thursday morning, but storms are forecast to dump snow and ice on parts of the Midwest and Northeast late Christmas Day and into the weekend. Meanwhile, Southern California faces flood risks on Christmas Eve and into Christmas.
Travelers in the Midwest and Northeast should exercise caution when traveling for Christmas and when heading home after the holiday. Much of New York, including New York City, New England, and northern Pennsylvania are expected to get anywhere between 1 to 12 inches of snow Thursday night into Friday, AccuWeather <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/winter-weather/late-week-snowstorm-looms-for-part-of-northeast-including-nyc/1846942">reported</a>. The areas likely to see the most snow are southeastern New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, which are slated to get between 6 and 12 inches.
“This fast-moving storm will pack a punch in the Northeast right after Christmas. Holiday travelers should prepare for major slowdowns on roads and at airports,&#8221; said AccuWeather&#8217;s Senior Meteorologist, Tyler Roys.
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Baltimore could also see a snow-rain mix.
Much of Michigan and Wisconsin are forecasted to get a snow-ice mix between Thursday and Saturday, with parts of eastern and mid-Michigan forecasted to get hit with a severe ice storm on Friday. Parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota could also be hit with ice or a wintry mix. Most of Ohio and parts of Indiana and northern Illinois, including Chicago, are expected to see rain. Thunderstorms are forecasted to hit central and southern Ohio, along with parts of northeastern Kentucky and western and northern parts of West Virginia, according to AccuWeather.
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The storm is expected to be New York City&#8217;s biggest snowfall of the year so far — between 3 and 6 inches — potentially causing travel disruptions for millions of people. ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/holiday-weather-forecast-white-christmas/story?id=128615555">reported</a> that travelers should expect &#8220;treacherous commutes&#8221; on I-80, I-70, I-90, and I-95.
Southern California was hit with heavy rain on Wednesday, with the stormy weather expected to stick around until Friday, ABC 7 Los Angeles <a href="https://abc7.com/live-updates/southern-california-weather-atmospheric-river-bring-storm-possible-flash-floods-region/18307242/">reported</a>. The storm has sparked flood warnings, concerns about potential mudslides, and at least one tornado warning on Wednesday. The tornado warning, which was issued for parts of east-central Los Angeles County, was canceled at 10:40 a.m. local time, but the National Weather Service said that damaging winds would continue throughout the day.
The storm is expected to dump several inches on Southern California, and thousands of customers lost power on Wednesday.
Ariel Cohen, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Los Angeles, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-heavy-rain-winds-snow-storm-holiday-travel-31f4d77881d7580659c6df6764ae52ee">warned</a> earlier this week, &#8220;If you’re planning to be on the roads for the Christmas holidays, please reconsider your plans.&#8221;

Snowstorm

Snow, Ice, And Flooding Threaten Christmas Travel Across U.S.

flooding

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Weather

Editor’s Note: This article was first published last December. It&#8217;s a good holiday story, so we’re bringing it back.
* * *
In 1955, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup had a very important job. It was the height of the Cold War, and Shoup was working at the Continental Air Defense Command — now known as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
One December day, his phone rang, but it wasn&#8217;t his regular phone. It was the red phone — the phone that had a <a href="https://kdvr.com/news/local/wrong-number-started-norad-santa-tracker/">number so secret</a> that only he and a four-star general at the <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/disney-hires-obama-era-pentagon-spokesperson-to-build-on-companys-strong-reputation/">Pentagon</a> knew of its existence. But when he answered the phone, a child was on the other end.
&#8220;Is this Santa Claus?&#8221; the child asked. <a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/2018/12/21/santa-tracker-creator-norad-colonel-christmas/2369617002/">Shoup</a>, according to his children — Terri Van Keuren, Rick Shoup, Pam Farrel — was initially surprised and annoyed, but when the child began to cry, he quickly changed his tone. He said, &#8220;Ho, ho, ho,&#8221; and asked the child whether he had been good — and then he asked to speak to a parent.
<a href="https://www.npr.org/2014/12/19/371647099/norads-santa-tracker-began-with-a-typo-and-a-good-sport">NPR reported</a>:
<blockquote>His children remember Shoup as straight-laced and disciplined, and he was annoyed and upset by the call and thought it was a joke — but then, Terri says, the little voice started crying.
&#8220;And Dad realized that it wasn&#8217;t a joke,&#8221; her sister says. &#8220;So he talked to him, ho-ho-ho&#8217;d and asked if he had been a good boy and, &#8216;May I talk to your mother?&#8217; And the mother got on and said, &#8216;You haven&#8217;t seen the paper yet? There&#8217;s a phone number to call Santa. It&#8217;s in the Sears ad.&#8217; Dad looked it up, and there it was, his red phone number. And they had children calling one after another, so he put a couple of airmen on the phones to act like Santa Claus.&#8221;
&#8220;It got to be a big joke at the command center. You know, &#8216;The old man&#8217;s really flipped his lid this time. We&#8217;re answering Santa calls,&#8217; &#8221; Terri says.</blockquote>
The joke took another turn when, on Christmas Eve of 1955, several of the Airmen under Shoup&#8217;s command drew a sleigh and eight reindeer on the glass board that they normally used to track the paths of airplanes over U.S. and Canadian airspace.
According to Terri, Shoup saw the drawing and asked, &#8220;What is that?&#8221;
The airmen said it was just a joke, apologizing and offering to take it down.
&#8220;Dad looked at it for a while, and next thing you know, Dad had called the radio station and had said, &#8216;This is the commander at the Combat Alert Center, and we have an unidentified flying object. Why, it looks like a sleigh.&#8217; Well, the radio stations would call him like every hour and say, &#8216;Where&#8217;s Santa now?'&#8221; Terri told NPR, adding, &#8220;And later in life he got letters from all over the world, people saying, &#8216;Thank you, Colonel,&#8217; for having, you know, this sense of humor. And in his 90s, he would carry those letters around with him in a briefcase that had a lock on it like it was top-secret information. You know, he was an important guy, but this is the thing he&#8217;s known for.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s probably the thing he was proudest of, too,&#8221; her brother agreed.
In the years since, NORAD has embraced the tradition. Call centers are operational and children can call from all over the world to see where Santa is as he makes his grand journey delivering gifts around the world in a single night.
Santa&#8217;s 2024 journey is already underway and can be tracked on X at @NORADSanta.
https://x.com/NoradSanta

US-CANADA-MILITARY-HOLIDAY-CHRISTMAS-OFFBEAT-GOVERNMENT

‘The Santa Colonel’: The Air Force Officer Who Turned A Sears Ad Typo Into A Holiday Tradition

'The Santa Colonel': The Air Force Officer Who Turned A Sears Ad Typo Into A Holiday Tradition

Air Force

Military

U.S.

Want to break Grok, ChatGPT or your preferred A.I. bot? Ask it how many versions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” have been produced since the tale’s 1843 debut.
Over the decades, the irascible Ebenezer Scrooge has been portrayed by everyone from George C. Scott to Mr. Magoo. That doesn’t include endless literary updates (Faith Moore’s “Christmas Karol” being a recent highlight), high school productions and other takes on the classic yarn.
<div id="attachment_1019405" style="width: 452px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1019405" class="size-large wp-image-1019405" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-52974182-442x576.jpg" alt="English actor Edward Woodward (left) as Christmas Present and American actor George C. Scott (1927 - 1999) as Ebenezer Scrooge in a television adaptation of the 1843 Charles Dickens short story 'A Christmas Carol,' 1984. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)" width="442" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-52974182-442x576.jpg 442w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-52974182-230x300.jpg 230w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-52974182-768x1002.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-52974182.jpg 785w" sizes=" (max-width: 442px) 100vw, 442px" />CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images</div>
And the remakes just keep coming. 
Indie filmmaker Ti West (“The Innkeepers,” “Pearl”) is working on a new version dubbed “<a href="https://deadline.com/2025/12/rupert-grint-daisy-ridley-ebenezer-johnny-depp-1236648800/">Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol</a>” to star Johnny Depp alongside Daisy Ridley, Ian McKellen, Sam Claflin, and Rupert Grint of “Harry Potter” fame.
“Nosferatu” director Robert Eggers has his own “Carol” plans to include Willem Dafoe in a role Scrooge McDuck made even more famous. That could be the creepiest “Carol” to date, given Eggers’ film resume.
But why? Sure, it’s easy to say Hollywood hearts beloved IPs for brand recognition alone. Plus, consumers will gobble up just about any Yuletide-themed flick. Netflix this season alone gave us fresh features like “Jingle Bell Heist,” “My Secret Santa,” and “A Merry Little Ex-Mas.”
The Hallmark Channel alone is a St. Nick movie factory come December, though none present an existential threat to holiday classics like “Elf” and “Home Alone.”
Those are partial explanations. The other reasons are more complicated and embedded in our cultural DNA.
Humans love redemption stories, period. It doesn’t matter what race or creed one may be, nor how a person voted in a given election. We flock to stories where a flawed soul finds something meaningful at long last.
<div id="attachment_1019469" style="width: 839px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1019469" class="size-large wp-image-1019469" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/PS-Christmas-Carol-829x576.jpg" alt="Credit: TNT/Hallmark" width="829" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/PS-Christmas-Carol-829x576.jpg 829w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/PS-Christmas-Carol-300x208.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/PS-Christmas-Carol-768x534.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/PS-Christmas-Carol-1536x1067.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/PS-Christmas-Carol.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 829px) 100vw, 829px" />Credit: TNT/Hallmark</div>
“A Christmas Carol” offers redemption on steroids. Imagine Tony Soprano joining the Witness Protection program and starting a nonprofit for vulnerable mothers. Ebenezer’s makeover is that extreme.
That kind of arc always draws a crowd. Sometimes, said crowd can be massive. A certain pilot defied age, conventional wisdom, and his own ego to make “Top Gun: Maverick” the 2022 movie that Steven Spielberg claimed “saved Hollywood.” It’s just one of endless examples, but few characters are given the kind of emotional comeback Scrooge enjoys in the Dickens’ yarn.
Americans in particular crave tales of second chances and attempts to wipe a personal slate clean. “A Christmas Carol” excels on both fronts, letting Scrooge amend his selfish ways before he becomes a diaphanous ghost himself.
That also explains why we keep getting fresh takes on “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The “Carol” overlaps are obvious, down to the green ghoul’s heart expanding three times in the final passages.
Dickens never shared that kind of a literary X-ray with readers, but it’s hard to doubt Scrooge’s ticker didn’t undergo a change of sorts by story’s end.
Ebenezer Scrooge offers one of the meatiest roles possible for an actor. It explains why so many legends have given life to the curmudgeon, including Patrick Stewart, Derek Jacobi, Michael Caine, Sir Ralph Richardson, and Albert Finney.
<div id="attachment_1019421" style="width: 567px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1019421" class="size-large wp-image-1019421" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-99046661-557x576.jpg" alt="Albert Finney, actor, pictured as Ebenezer Scrooge in the film musical 'Scrooge', adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens, 16 January 1970. (Photo by Keystone Colour/Getty Images)" width="557" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-99046661-557x576.jpg 557w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-99046661-290x300.jpg 290w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-99046661-768x794.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-99046661.jpg 990w" sizes=" (max-width: 557px) 100vw, 557px" />Keystone Colour/Getty Images</div>
It’s the ultimate acting challenge, asking stars to embody a wicked character careening from rage and regret to rebirth.
The original tale may be set in the mid-1800s, but the story’s timeless approach remains storytelling catnip. Class envy. Greed. Family ties. Lost loves. It’s hard to name an essential emotion left out of the narrative.
And, of course, the story’s spiritual implications can’t be overlooked. Even a sinful soul like Ebenezer can confess his transgressions with the hope he’ll be embraced by his Creator. His nightmarish journey finds ghostly visions exposing the error of his ways, an afterlife close-up meant to trigger his weak, but still worthy spirit.
<div id="attachment_1019477" style="width: 768px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1019477" class="size-large wp-image-1019477" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Christmas-Carol-musical-758x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Hallmark Entertainment/Mid Atlantic Films" width="758" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Christmas-Carol-musical-758x576.jpg 758w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Christmas-Carol-musical-300x228.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Christmas-Carol-musical-768x584.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Christmas-Carol-musical.jpg 997w" sizes=" (max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px" />Credit: Hallmark Entertainment/Mid Atlantic Films</div>
His spiritual reboot won’t come easily, even with those ghostly visions taunting him at every step. Does it ever? But when he wakes up on Christmas morning, his heart is alight with good cheer. Even better? He can’t wait to share it, along with his wealth, with others.
Dickens considered himself a Christian, though he had <a href="https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/faith-behind-the-famous-charles-dickens">complicated views on religious dogma</a>. Scrooge’s generosity in the final act reflects his creator’s vision of Christian charity.
The story offers marvelous flexibility, inviting endless spins still tethered to its main themes. We’ve seen more than a few musical variations on “A Christmas Carol” from the aforementioned Mr. Magoo “Carol” to “Spirited,” the Apple TV+ original where Will Ferrell embodies a very 21st-century Scrooge.
<div id="attachment_1019409" style="width: 815px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1019409" class="size-large wp-image-1019409" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1439874905-805x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 07: Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell attend Apple Original Film's &quot;Spirited&quot; New York Premiere at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on November 07, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images,)" width="805" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1439874905-805x576.jpg 805w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1439874905-300x215.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1439874905-768x550.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1439874905.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 805px) 100vw, 805px" />Cindy Ord/Getty Images</div>
It can even be viewed as a horror yarn with very little effort. Ghosts and morbid visions of the afterlife flash before Scrooge’s eyes, visuals that could easily transform into genre chills.
That may have attracted both West and Eggers, auteurs who relish ways to make audiences squirm. Just the tinkle-tinkle sound of a ghost’s chains bumping along a wooden floor alone is enough to rally goosebumps.
We even endured pre-woke gender swaps on the saga, including 1995’s “Ebbie” (with Susan Lucci) and 1997’s “Ms. Scrooge” with Cicely Tyson. And the less said about the rom-com spin on “Carol,” the forgettable 2009 film “The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” with Matthew McConaughey, the better.
Chances are the West and Eggers projects won’t be the last Hollywood takes on “A Christmas Carol.” As long as we crave hope in a sometimes dark and dreary world, we’ll hunger to revisit Dickens’ yarn anew.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>

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Why We Can’t Quit Ebenezer Scrooge

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Some bad hombres are getting coal this Christmas season.
The Trump administration&#8217;s mass deportation campaign has exposed some of the &#8220;worst of the worst&#8221; illegal immigrants roaming the United States. Here are some of the most egregious examples.
Since Inauguration Day, federal immigration agents have arrested 595,000 illegal immigrants and deported roughly 605,000 others.
<h4>Kilmar Abrego Garcia</h4>
To start, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kilmar-abrego-garcia-emerges-from-detention-vowing-to-fight-trump-admin">Kilmar Abrego Garcia</a>, the alleged MS-13 gangbanger who was deported by the Trump administration to his home country of El Salvador in March due to an “administrative error.”
Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States in June on human smuggling charges related to a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop, where police found the alleged gangbanger behind the wheel with eight other passengers, but no luggage despite having been on the road for days on their drive from Texas to Maryland.
A responding officer noted that he suspected they had encountered “a human trafficking incident,” but they ultimately let Abrego Garcia go free with a citation for driving with an expired license.
The illegal immigrant was also accused of <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/30/us-news/kilmar-abrego-garcia-bragged-he-could-kill-his-wife-and-get-away-with-it-court-docs/">beating</a> his wife, who has since emerged as one of his fiercest advocates, after she twice applied for a protective order against him.
Democrats have made Abrego Garcia the face of their campaign against President Donald Trump&#8217;s deportation effort, labeling him a “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kilmar-abrego-garcias-journey-from-maryland-man-to-uganda-man-a-current-timeline">Maryland man</a>.&#8221;
Democratic Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen visited Abrego Garcia while he was detained in El Salvador.
Abrego Garcia was tagged as a member of MS-13 in a 2019 Maryland police report and a 2018 court filing.
<h4>The ex-Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools</h4>
Next is the former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, Ian Roberts. Roberts, who hails from Guyana, was nabbed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in September while he was leading Iowa&#8217;s largest school district and had an active deportation order.
Roberts first came to the United States in 1994 as a tourist and received a student visa in 1999, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
By 1996, he was charged with criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of narcotics, criminal possession of a forgery device, and possession of a forged instrument in New York, according to DHS.
Roberts faced a charge for third-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle in Queens, New York, two years later, which was later dismissed.
He was convicted of reckless driving, unsafe operation, and speeding in Maryland on November 1, 2012.
In 2020, Roberts was hit with charges for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon (having a loaded firearm outside his home or business); third-degree criminal possession of a weapon (an ammunition feeding device); and fourth-degree weapon charges, according to DHS.
He was convicted of unlawful possession of a loaded firearm in Pennsylvania in 2022.
Roberts applied for a green card on four separate occasions and was denied one each time.
The ex-superintendent&#8217;s work permit expired on December 18, 2020. He was hired roughly three years later to lead Des Moines Public Schools.
Roberts failed to appear for his immigration hearing, where a judge ordered his deportation.
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<h4>Harjinder Singh</h4>
Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, allegedly killed three people after making an illegal U-turn in an 18-wheeler on a Florida turnpike in August.
Singh, who appeared in since-viral dash-cam footage looking unfazed by the crash, was issued a commercial driver&#8217;s license by authorities in Washington State and later in California.
It later emerged that Singh had failed his driver&#8217;s license test 10 times in three months before Washington ultimately granted him a truck driver&#8217;s license in 2023.
After the fatal collision, Singh failed an English language proficiency test, “providing correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and only accurately identifying 1 of 4 highway traffic signs,” according to the Department of Transportation.
The month before the crash, Singh was seen on police body camera footage struggling to communicate in English as New Mexico officers issued him a speeding ticket, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-alien-failed-cdl-test-10-times-2-months-before-fatal-florida-crash-killed-3https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-alien-failed-cdl-test-10-times-2-months-before-fatal-florida-crash-killed-3">according</a> to Fox News.
The crash sparked a national crackdown by the Trump administration on states issuing commercial driver&#8217;s licenses to illegal immigrants.
<h4>Sebastian Zapeta-Calil</h4>
Guatemalan illegal immigrant Sebastian Zapeta-Calil made headlines this year after he set a sleeping woman on fire on New York City&#8217;s subway last December.
Zapeta-Calil watched the woman burn to death from a nearby bench, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/12/31/us-news/mystery-woman-torched-to-death-in-horrific-nyc-subway-attack-finally-identified-by-cops-sources/">according</a> to the New York Post. The woman&#8217;s burns were so severe that police initially struggled to identify the victim.
She was later identified by police as Debrina Kawam, 57.
Zapeta-Calil was deported in 2018 before he returned to the United States illegally.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem later visited the subway platform where the illegal immigrant set the woman ablaze.
“Met with law enforcement officials this morning in NYC. Those who are in this country [illegally] WILL be tracked down, prosecuted and not allowed to return,”<a href="https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/1897364125358965166"> Noem wrote about the trip on X.</a>
“If aliens voluntarily leave now, they may have the opportunity to return the right, legal way and live the American dream. If they don’t, they will face the inevitable consequences,” she added.
<h4>Cory Alvarez</h4>
Haitian migrant Cory Alvarez raped a young disabled girl in a Massachusetts shelter after he entered the country under the Biden-era parole scheme. The program allowed 30,000 people every month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela for a period of two years.
Alvarez went on to rape the helpless 15-year-old girl last year at the Comfort Inn on Hingham Street, which was temporarily housing migrants as part of a government program. He was convicted in November and is expected to spend at least the next decade behind bars.
The Haitian man lured the young victim to his room by offering to help put apps on her tablet before he sexually assaulted her, <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/man-found-guilty-of-raping-teen-girl-at-mass-migrant-shelter-to-be-sentenced/3824305/">according</a> to NBC10 Boston.
According to court documents, the teen girl cried out to Alvarez to leave her alone, “but he didn’t stop.&#8221;
The Rockland Police Department arrested Alvarez on March 14, 2024, the day after the rape. The Plymouth County Superior Court of Brockton allowed Alvarez to go free on a $500 bond on June 27, 2024, flouting a federal immigration detainer.

Untitled design – 2025-12-22T102652.069

Here Are The Illegal Immigrants Who Made The Naughty List This Year

Illegal Immigration

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Editor’s Note: This article was previously published on December 24, 2023. We’re bringing it back.
* * *
Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe and his men — many from the 101st Airborne Division, along with some stragglers from Pennsylvania&#8217;s 28th Infantry Division (known as &#8220;The Bloody Bucket&#8221;) and the 9th Armored &#8220;Phantom&#8221; Division — spent Christmas of 1944 in the Belgian city of Bastogne, surrounded by an ever-encroaching enemy and greatly outnumbered.
On December 22, the German commander sent word to McAuliffe, informing him that he and his troops were surrounded and demanding that they surrender. He warned the American general that if he did not surrender, the attack would be swift and merciless — and he promised that the inevitable civilian casualties would be blamed on the Americans.
McAuliffe responded to the German threat with just one word: &#8220;Nuts!&#8221; And, as promised, the German army began to tighten its grip on <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/watch-world-war-ii-veteran-breaks-into-song-during-ceremony-honoring-his-service-in-belgium/">Bastogne</a>. Machine-gun fire and approaching tanks met any American soldier who approached the perimeter, and Junkers Ju 88 bombers flew over the city as visibility allowed. The Germans also blanketed the area with pamphlets promising relief from the hunger and frigid conditions to anyone who surrendered.
And so it was that on Christmas Eve, McAuliffe sent a letter to rally his troops:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
75 years ago this Christmas Eve, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe wrote this letter to his troops during the Battle of the Bulge. Today we remember the service members who served during the holidays both then and now and wish you a Merry Christmas! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoVeteranEverDies?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NoVeteranEverDies</a> <a href="https://t.co/VuYyhYqqVj">pic.twitter.com/VuYyhYqqVj</a>
— National Cemeteries (@VANatCemeteries) <a href="https://twitter.com/VANatCemeteries/status/1209458808587784192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
McAuliffe&#8217;s letter began with the heading &#8220;Merry Christmas&#8221;:
<blockquote>What’s Merry about all this, you ask? We’re fighting — it’s cold, we aren’t home. All true but what has the proud Eagle Division accomplished with its worthy comrades the 10th Armored Division, the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion and all the rest? Just this: We have stopped cold everything that has been thrown at us from the North, East, South and West. We have identifications from four German Panzer Divisions, two German Infantry Divisions and one German Parachute Division. These units, spearheading the last desperate German lunge, were headed straight west for key points when the Eagle Division was hurriedly ordered to stem the advance. How effectively this was done will be written in history; not alone in our Division’s glorious history but in World history. The Germans actually did surround us, their radios blared our doom. Their Commander demanded our surrender in the following impudent arrogance:
To the U. S. A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.
The fortune of war is changing. This time the U. S. A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Ourthe near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompres-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands.
There is only one possibility to save the encircled U. S. A. Troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.
If this proposal should be rejected the German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U. S. A. Troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hour’s term.
All the serious civilian losses caused by this Artillery fire would not correspond with the well known American humanity.
The German Commander
The German Commander received the following reply:
22 December 1944
“To the German Commander:
N U T S !
The American Commander”
Allied Troops are counterattacking in force. We continue to hold Bastogne. By holding Bastogne we assure the success of the Allied Armies. We know that our Division Commander, General Taylor, will say: “Well Done!”
We are giving our country and our loved ones at home a worthy Christmas present and being privileged to take part in this gallant feat of arms are truly making for ourselves a Merry Christmas.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
73 years ago, the US <a href="https://twitter.com/101stAASLTDIV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@101stAASLTDIV</a> was surrounded at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bastogne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bastogne</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Belgium?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Belgium</a> over the Christmas time during the December 1944 Battle of the Bulge. Here is Gen. McAuliffe&#8217;s historic Christmas letter <a href="https://t.co/BHR6MsHjMj">https://t.co/BHR6MsHjMj</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WW2Nation?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WW2Nation</a> <a href="https://t.co/IEpjyM3fmv">pic.twitter.com/IEpjyM3fmv</a>
— Pascal Heyman (@PascalHeyman) <a href="https://twitter.com/PascalHeyman/status/945012709669703680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
That night, the Junkers dropped one-ton bombs on the city of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/12/23/christmas-eve-snow-turned-red-with-blood/">Bastogne</a>. They destroyed a makeshift hospital, killing dozens of wounded soldiers, nurses, and medics. But McAuliffe&#8217;s men held the city, earning for the 101st Airborne Division the nickname &#8220;The Battered Bastards of Bastogne.&#8221;
General George S. Patton arrived the day after Christmas, bringing with him the necessary strength to break the siege and relieve McAuliffe&#8217;s men.

Band Of Brothers Movie Still

Read The Letter General Anthony McAuliffe Sent Exhausted, Surrounded Men At The Battle Of The Bulge

Editor’s Note: This article was previously published on December 20, 2023. Since &#8220;It&#8217;s A Wonderful Life&#8221; remains a holiday classic, we’re bringing it back.
* * *
The beloved Christmas classic film &#8220;It&#8217;s a Wonderful Life&#8221; was the movie that brought a beleaguered and combat-weary actor James &#8220;Jimmy&#8221; Stewart back to fans after the war — but it may have also been the movie that brought a desperate man back from the brink.
<a href="https://www.life.com/people/jimmy-stewart-photos-of-a-world-war-ii-hero-homecoming-1945/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Maitland Stewart</a> was preparing to go to war for several years before he was drafted in 1941. He earned a civilian pilot&#8217;s license in the hopes that the Army would let him fly — and he even took a trip to Europe in 1939 to get a feel for the landscape, knowing that it was likely he would end up there at some point.
By the time the Empire of Japan launched its surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Stewart had already attempted to join the Army. Rejected once in 1940 because he was underweight, the always-slim actor attempted to pack on a few pounds and ultimately turned to a doctor for a note explaining that he was just genetically predisposed to be thin.
Biographer Robert Matzen — who wrote &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Jimmy-Stewart-Fight-Europe/dp/0996274057/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=jimmy+stewart+and+the+fight+for+europe&amp;qid=1621538823&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe</a>&#8221; — explained, &#8220;Step by step, he set himself up to end up in England in a bomb group. One of those steps was taken years before he was drafted, and that was when he became a star in Hollywood and bought a plane that was an army trainer and proceeded to learn to fly and train, and log hours on that plane so that he could be a pilot when the war came.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_478319" style="width: 461px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-478319" class="size-large wp-image-478319" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1337627840-451x576.jpg" alt="Portrait of American actor lieutenant colonel James Stewart (1908 - 1997), 1944. He had just been named chief of staff of a Liberator bomber combat wing, and recently had been awarded both the Oak Leaf Cluster and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service. (Photo by US Army/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)" width="451" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1337627840-451x576.jpg 451w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1337627840-235x300.jpg 235w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1337627840-768x982.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1337627840.jpg 801w" sizes=" (max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px" />Portrait of American actor lieutenant colonel James Stewart (1908 &#8211; 1997), 1944. US Army/PhotoQuest/Getty Images.</div>
Stewart&#8217;s determination — and his pre-war preparations — did not pay off immediately, however. The actor, who was fresh off his Best Actor win in 1940&#8217;s &#8220;The Philadelphia Story,&#8221; was initially drafted to appear in film reels and enlistment propaganda films — but eventually he demanded to see combat alongside his other draftees.
Stewart eventually got what he asked for, rising through the ranks from buck private to major in just four years and earning a spot in the cockpit of a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber known as Dixie Flyer. He flew dozens of missions over Germany, some as command pilot, and earned both a Distinguished Service Medal and a Distinguished Flying Cross.
But toward the end of the <a href="https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/james-maitland-stewart">8th Air Force&#8217;s Big Week</a> in early 1944 — a six-day mission in late February originally named Operation Argument and designed to decimate the German Luftwaffe in preparation for the D-Day invasion — things <a href="https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/jimmy-stewart-ww2-mission-air-force/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went sideways</a>. Stewart was on his 10th mission as a leader and serving as co-pilot when his plane was hit. The German flak left a sizable hole in the fuselage of his plane — just inches from his feet. And while he and his pilot were able to recover, when the smoke cleared from the cockpit, they had to watch as another in their squadron took a similar strike, lost a wing, and plummeted toward the ground.
Stewart was not the same after that and was eventually grounded. At the time, his condition was referred to as &#8220;flak-happy,&#8221; &#8220;shell-shock,&#8221; or &#8220;combat fatigue&#8221; — but today&#8217;s doctors might have diagnosed the decorated pilot with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
&#8220;He wasn&#8217;t afraid of bombs or bullets. He was afraid of making a mistake and causing someone to die. That was his endless stress, and that&#8217;s what ended up grounding him,&#8221; Matzen wrote.
<div id="attachment_478808" style="width: 744px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-478808" class="size-large wp-image-478808" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-515219828-734x576.jpg" alt="(Original Caption) 9/1/1945-New York, New York-Just like any serviceman returning from the war, Colonel James Stewart was greeted by his proud parents, who journeyed from Indiana, PA, to see their son after his arrival aboard the Queen Elizabeth. A veteran of a year and a half overseas with the 8th Air Force, Colonel Stewart, in his last command, was senior officer over approximately 9,000 men. Here he is shown with his parents at the St. Regis Hotel." width="734" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-515219828-734x576.jpg 734w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-515219828-300x236.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-515219828-768x603.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-515219828.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 734px) 100vw, 734px" />(Original Caption) 9/1/1945-New York, New York-Just like any serviceman returning from the war, Colonel James Stewart was greeted by his proud parents, who journeyed from Indiana, PA, to see their son after his arrival aboard the Queen Elizabeth. Getty Images.</div>
He returned home to his proud parents in Pennsylvania. On the outside, he was a war hero; on the inside, he was nearly broken.
Surviving on little more than peanut butter and ice cream — he struggled to keep any solid foods down — Stewart&#8217;s already thin frame became painfully so. Still, he decided after a short time at home that what he really needed was to get back to work.
&#8220;I have to go back and face Hollywood. I&#8217;ve been away for five years, other people are taking my roles,&#8221; he said — but when he got there, he quickly realized that the landscape had changed and so had he. Stewart ended up sharing an apartment with fellow actor Henry Fonda, who had also recently returned after serving in the Pacific.
<div id="attachment_478811" style="width: 427px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-478811" class="size-large wp-image-478811" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-103354640-417x576.jpg" alt="Lt. Henry Fonda (1905 - 1982) during his military service on board the USS Bearss, summer 1945. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images)" width="417" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-103354640-417x576.jpg 417w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-103354640-217x300.jpg 217w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-103354640.jpg 742w" sizes=" (max-width: 417px) 100vw, 417px" />Lt. Henry Fonda (1905 &#8211; 1982) during his military service on board the USS Bearss, summer 1945. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;I had been away from the film business, my MGM contract had run out and, frankly, not knowing how to get started again, I was just a little bit scared,&#8221; Stewart described the precarious nature of his situation in a 1987 interview with Guideposts. &#8220;Hank Fonda was in the same boat, and we sort of wandered around together, talking, flying kites and stuff. But nothing much was happening.&#8221;
Stewart got only one offer in those early weeks. His former boss and MGM exec Louis B. Mayer <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/first-teaser-trailer-jimmy-stewart-170732188.html">proposed a biopic</a> capitalizing on the star&#8217;s military service. &#8220;Let&#8217;s do &#8216;The Jimmy Stewart Story&#8217; — we can show you flying over Frankfurt, we can show you as a military hero,&#8221; Mayer said. Stewart&#8217;s answer was an unequivocal &#8220;No,&#8221; and he flatly refused to discuss the matter further.
Director Frank Capra, an Italian immigrant who had been naturalized after serving in World War I, had also spent <a href="https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/director-frank-capra-goes-to-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">time away from Hollywood</a> during the war. As soon as Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Marshall got wind of Capra&#8217;s enlistment, he had him commissioned as a major and assigned to report to him personally.
<div id="attachment_478955" style="width: 782px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-478955" class="size-large wp-image-478955" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-931704116-772x576.jpg" alt="Italian-American film director Frank Capra (1897 - 1991) as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the US Army, during a stay in London, World War II, 19th August 1943. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" width="772" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-931704116-772x576.jpg 772w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-931704116-300x224.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-931704116-768x573.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-931704116.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px" />Italian-American film director Frank Capra (1897 &#8211; 1991) as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the US Army, during a stay in London, World War II, 19th August 1943. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;To win this war we must win the battle for men’s minds,&#8221; Marshall told Capra in one of their early meetings. &#8220;I want to nail down with you a plan to make a series of documented, factual-information films – the first in our history – that will explain to our boys in the Army why we are fighting, and the principles for which we are fighting.&#8221;
Capra protested, explaining that he had never made any film that could be considered a &#8220;documentary.&#8221;
Marshall responded with the gruff bluster that he was known for, saying, &#8220;Capra, I have never been chief of staff before. Thousands of young Americans have never had their legs shot off before. Boys are commanding ships today, who a year ago had never seen the ocean before.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m sorry, sir. I’ll make you the best damned documentary films ever made,&#8221; was Capra&#8217;s reply.
But when it was all over, Capra returned to Hollywood in much the same state as Stewart: adrift, and wondering if he still had what it took to deliver what the fans wanted.
* * *
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-stewart-a-world-at-war-and-why-its-a-wonderful-life-was-almost-less-wonderful-part-ii">Jimmy Stewart, A World At War, And Why &#8216;It&#8217;s A Wonderful Life&#8217; Was Almost Less Wonderful: Part II</a>

It’s A Wonderful Life

Jimmy Stewart, A World At War, And Why ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ Was Almost Less Wonderful: Part I

Jimmy Stewart, A World At War, And Why 'It's A Wonderful Life' Was Almost Less Wonderful: Part I

Celebrities

Hollywood

The White House said that President Donald Trump&#8217;s massive deportation operation will go on as planned after Florida’s Catholic bishops sent in a formal <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-says-no-catholic-bishops-call-christmas-pause-immigration-enforcement?intcmp=tw_fnc&amp;taid=694a61224a2c5800015817ff&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">request</a> on Monday, asking for a pause on immigration enforcement during the Christmas season.
Led by Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the bishops appealed to Trump and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, arguing that a temporary reprieve would show &#8220;decent regard for the humanity&#8221; of families.
Archbishop Wenski contended that since the border is secure and high-priority criminals have largely been removed, current &#8220;maximum enforcement&#8221; operations are now sweeping up industrious, non-criminal workers. He referred to the &#8220;climate of fear and anxiety&#8221; among both illegal immigrants and their legal neighbors, particularly at facilities like &#8220;Alligator Alcatraz&#8221; in the Everglades.
While the White House did not address the holiday pause specifically, spokeswoman Abigail Jackson stated, &#8220;President Trump was elected based on his promise to the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens. And he’s keeping that promise.”
This clash coincides with a significant leadership shift in the American Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV <a href="https://time.com/7341672/pope-leo-new-york-archbishop-timothy-dolan-trump-immigration/">recently appointed</a> Bishop Ronald Hicks to replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan as the Archbishop of New York. Cardinal Dolan, a prominent conservative and long-time associate of President Trump, reached the age of 75, which requires him to offer his resignation. While Dolan has occasionally criticized harsh immigration rhetoric, he maintained a friendly relationship with the president, even delivering the invocation at his second inauguration.
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In contrast, the appointment of Bishop Hicks signals a more confrontational stance against the administration’s immigration policies. Hicks, who spent years working with orphans in El Salvador and was formed by the &#8220;Latino church,&#8221; has been a vocal supporter of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ recent &#8220;special message&#8221; slamming mass deportations and the &#8220;vilification&#8221; of migrants. That message was also endorsed by Pope Leo.
Pope Leo XIV — the first American pope — has suggested that supporting the &#8220;inhuman treatment of immigrants&#8221; may be incompatible with pro-life values. Last month, the pope stated, &#8220;I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have. If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there’s a system of justice.&#8221;
By elevating Hicks, the Vatican appears to be strengthening the Church’s opposition to the administration&#8217;s enforcement policies.

US-NEWS-RELIG-MIAMI-ARCHBISHOP-2-MI

Catholic Bishops Call For Christmas Immigration Pause. White House Says Deportations Will Continue.

illegal immigrants

Pope Leo

Each year, as the holidays approach, countless Americans find themselves facing a very different kind of season, one marked not by joy, but by grief. This time of year brings up memories of someone they’ve lost, a relationship that has changed, or a chapter of life that will never look the same again. And while the world tells us to celebrate, the brain tells a different story. Grief changes your mood, your thinking, your energy, and your sense of peace. This is why navigating grief around the holidays requires intention, compassion, and care for your brain.
In our culture, we often feel pressure to “be okay,” especially in December. But grief doesn’t follow a calendar. It shows up in waves, some small, some overwhelming, and holidays tend to magnify everything we feel. The truth is, grief is not just emotional. It is biological. It activates the brain’s alarm system, disrupts sleep, increases stress hormones, and alters the circuits involved in focus and motivation. You’re not imagining the heaviness. Your brain is responding to loss.
When we understand this, we can respond in ways that help calm the chaos inside us instead of making it worse.
One of the most important places to begin is with routine. In seasons of grief, the basics fall apart, sleep becomes irregular, meals become inconsistent, and movement becomes optional. But the brain thrives on rhythm. Foundational habits like sleep, healthy eating, and exercise support healthy brain function and improved mental health. <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6378489/">Research</a> shows that consistent routines calm the brain’s anxiety centers and strengthen the frontal cortex, which helps with decision-making and emotional balance. These small anchors don’t remove grief, but they give the brain a steadier foundation to handle it.
Light is another powerful tool. During fall and winter, sunlight drops and indoor time increases. Low vitamin D levels are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12991-022-00406-1">linked to depression</a>, and reduced sunlight disrupts melatonin and serotonin, two key regulators of mood. For someone already carrying sadness, this shift can intensify symptoms. Ten or fifteen minutes of morning sunlight on your skin can help stabilize your brain chemistry. When sunlight isn’t possible, bright light therapy offers an effective alternative.
When grief is present, cravings often increase, not just for food or alcohol, but the urge for escape. But numbing behaviors intensify the very feelings we’re trying to avoid. Sugar causes blood sugar spikes and crashes that worsen irritation, fatigue, and mood swings. Alcohol temporarily boosts dopamine, but leaves serotonin depleted, <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10851576/">leading to a deeper</a> emotional crash. When your heart is hurting, your brain needs stability, not substances that destabilize it. Nourish yourself with balanced meals, water, and movement, and you’ll feel the difference.
Connection also plays a crucial role in healing. When people are grieving, they often isolate. It feels easier, safer, less demanding. But isolation heightens sadness. Social isolation is a risk factor for worsening anxiety and depression. You don’t need large gatherings or forced cheer. You need a safe person, someone who can sit with you and let you be exactly where you are.
Finally, there’s the mind itself. &#8220;Grief brain&#8221; is a term used to describe the neurological effects of loss on the brain. After an extreme loss, the body triggers the release of neurochemicals similar to those involved in the fight-flight-or-freeze response. In the following days, weeks, and months, reminders of the loss can re-ignite this chemical reaction. This grief response can rewire the brain in negative ways, changing it in several key regions.
The first of which is the prefrontal cortex. The part of the brain responsible for executive functions, like planning, judgment, impulse control, problem-solving, and decision-making. Grief effectively takes this region offline, suppressing your ability to think clearly and accomplish complex tasks.
Additionally, the limbic system, the emotional center of the brain, shifts into overdrive in times of grief, amplifying emotions like sadness, fear, and anxiety.
In the healthy brain, the limbic system provides the motivation you need to get things done, and the prefrontal cortex gives you the mental horsepower to complete important projects. Yet, in the grieving brain, this system is turned upside down, robbing you of mental clarity while heightening emotions. Grief brings thoughts that are often harsh, heavy, or untrue, and every negative thought releases chemicals that influence how you feel. It is crucial to learn how to reframe those thoughts to help reduce depressive symptoms and rewire the brain toward healthier patterns.
But perhaps the most important thing to remember is this: it’s okay to feel what you feel. The holidays are a mix of joy and pain for many people. You don’t have to pretend. Let your feelings come; they are part of healing. Suppressing emotions activates the brain’s stress circuits. Allowing them begins to release the pressure inside you.
Grief also touches the spiritual parts of us. Loss raises deep questions — about meaning, purpose, and what truly matters. Scripture reminds us in Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (NIV). Choosing hope doesn’t mean ignoring pain; it means anchoring your mind in something steady when everything else feels unstable.
Grief may be part of your holiday, but it doesn’t have to define it. With a steady routine, connection, and compassion for yourself, your brain can find its way back to balance. And over time, you can discover moments of peace again.
Your grief is real. But so is your ability to heal.
* * *
Dr. Daniel Amen, MD, is a double board-certified psychiatrist and founder of Amen Clinics, a mental health practice specializing in brain-based approaches to diagnosis and treatment, and author of &#8220;Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain.&#8221;
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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