DERRIK J. LANG looks back at how soldiers have spent the holidays during war.
1964: Bob Hope visits U.S. troops in Vietnam for his annual Christmas show. (AP Photo)
Rations. Snowball fights. Truces. Turning points. Drunken nights.
As times and enemies have changed, so have the ways U.S. soldiers commemorate Christmas.
From the Civil War "gift" of Savannah in 1864 to a sand-covered Desert Shield celebration during the Gulf War in 1990, Christmas has always marked an important time during war.
As the men and women of the U.S. military prepare to spend another Christmas at war, asap asked College of William and Mary history professor Scott Nelson about wartime celebrations and the battlefield goodwill of Christmases past.
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CIVIL WAR
Time: The conflict between the Union and the Confederacy lasted from 1861 to 1865, mostly in the Southern states, meaning soldiers spent four chilly Christmases camped in places like Virginia and Mississippi. During this time, 13 states took action to make Christmas a legal holiday.
Celebration: Soldiers erected small evergreen trees strung with hardtack -- sort of a cross between a cracker and a biscuit -- and pork. Christmas dinner consisted of the same thing, if they were lucky.
Goodwill: Most soldiers were in winter quarters so skirmishes were sparse. However, there are some accounts of North vs. South snowball fights. And in 1864, after leaving behind a path of destruction from Atlanta, Gen. William Sherman famously sent a telegraph to President Lincoln offering Savannah as a "Christmas gift" after taking the city.
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WORLD WAR I
Time: Although this bloody war lasted from 1914 to 1918, taking place primarily in Europe, the U.S. didn't send infantry until 1917. So U.S. soldiers endured only one Christmas in the trenches.
Celebration: Allied forces throughout Europe joined together, often in churches, to celebrate the holiday, sharing food, booze, music and Christmas traditions from different cultures.
Goodwill: In one of the most popular acts of Christmastime neutrality, British and German troops in Ypres, Belgium, put down their weapons, sang Christmas carols and met in "No Man's Land" to exchange gifts in what later became known as the Christmas truce of 1914.
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WORLD WAR II
Time: On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, drawing the U.S. into the war just weeks before Christmas. For the rest of the war, U.S. troops celebrated four Yuletides -- 1941 to 1944 -- across the globe.
Celebration: In the 1940s, Christmas cards were totally trendy. Thanks to advances in printing technology, droves of servicemen received printed patriotic messages from home. Some soldiers made their own cards by shooting bullet holes into cardstock.
Goodwill: Unlike in some previous wars, fighting rarely let up for Christmas during World War II. However, during the famed Battle of the Bulge in 1944, there are accounts of opposing troops singing carols to each other from across enemy lines in the snow.
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KOREAN WAR
Time: The Korean War, lasting from 1950 to 1953, called for three Christmases away from home. In October of 1950, Gen. Douglas MacArthur infamously foresaw American troops home by Christmas. Instead, Chinese forces advanced, the war dragged on and MacArthur's prediction was proved false.
Celebration: Troops decorated trees with whatever they had -- ration containers, bullet casings, canteens -- and noshed on Christmas-themed rations.
Goodwill: War in communist Asia offered few pleasantries during the holidays. Enemy soldiers would often sing Christmas carols that told U.S. soldiers they'd be going home in body bags and would never have Christmas with their families again.
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VIETNAM WAR
Time: For at least eight Christmases, U.S. troops battled the communist government during the Vietnam War. The holiday season there was much like the Korean War -- except hotter. By 1969, more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam.
Celebration: United Service Organization Christmas shows were organized featuring stars like Nancy Sinatra and Bob Hope. Lyrics to Christmas carols were often changed to add political messages. In the field, soldiers dined on cold turkey and gravy dropped by supply helicopters.
Goodwill: Although the opposition usually agreed to Christmas truces -- nothing as fondly remembered as the pacts made during the World Wars -- violence, in reality, often continued.
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GULF WAR
Time: The war began with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 after Iraq claimed Kuwait was illegally drilling oil across the border. The U.S. launched the defensive Operation Desert Shield in August and began amassing troops over the next the six months until Operation Desert Storm began on Jan. 17, 1991.
Celebration: Nearly 500,000 troops celebrated a surreal Christmas in the desert with traditional decorations and dinner, and Christmas carols blasted on boom boxes.
Goodwill: None. As of Christmas, the offensive had not yet begun.
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Derrik J. Lang is an asap reporter in New York and blogger for The Slug.
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