The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Sinking of the SS Leopoldville - Dec. 24th, 2002

http://www.strandlab.com/milxmas/2000.html ^

[SAMWolf]

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Nightmare Before Christmas

As we here at Skylighters do each Christmas, we take a journey of remembrance back to that final Christmas of the war in Europe. We usually tell a story about what it was like to spend that holy day on a windswept ridge above the Seigfried line, or at a frozen airstrip in eastern France, or in a POW camp on the Polish frontier. Sometimes the stories are uplifting; other times, they're tragic. Sometimes, the story contains elements of both. The point is to remember what it was like for those who won our right, all those Decembers ago, to enjoy our freedoms this December, and there is no more poignant tale for this purpose than the sinking of the Leopoldville.

This year, thanks to the kindness of an English newspaper, we relay the story of the "Nightmare Before Christmas," the sinking of the troopship SS Leopoldville in the English Channel on Christmas Eve, 1944, a tragedy that took nearly 800 American lives. It's a story that few Americans of my generation are aware of, and even some of the WW II generation may not have heard.

As a (relatively) young man myself, it's always a sobering thing to read the names of war dead, and in the case of the Leopoldville, it seems all the more horrible that all those bright young men of the 66th Infantry Division ("The Black Panthers") died on Christmas Eve just under six miles from friendly shores. That a U-boat fired a torpedo into the former Belgian liner was a known risk of warfare. As a result, many of the young infantrymen aboard never saw Christmas 1944, or, indeed, another Christmas at all. But what contributed to the deaths of so many of the 800 and what happened afterward could not have been imagined.

Who were these men? I took the trouble to look up some of their names. There's Carlton Garlan of Stockton, Alabama; James L. McNair of Calhoun Falls, South Carolina; and William A. Klosterman of Rockville Center, New York. And Pablo G. Franco of Loving, New Mexico and John Marzotto of Weehawken, New Jersey. Scranton, Pennsylvnia gave Walter J. Skibinski and Chicago, Illinois sacrificed Albert Verbauen. I whisper the names in the dark room as I type this. For those moments that the letters materialize on the page in pronounceable patterns, I feel somehow this long-dead men are remembered. Like the scene in Saving Private Ryan where Ryan asks what the names were of the men who died looking for him, the mere intonation of each name (Caparzo, Wade) has resonance, meaning. Like Ryan, who repeats the names to himself, saying the names of the dead aloud is a way of remembering them.

With each name uttered I'm transported back to that black Christmas Eve 58 years ago. The lights twinkling in the windows across the street may have been how the harbor lights of Cherbourg may have looked through the mist that night in 1944. I see wreaths floating on the dark water — not Christmas wreaths, but funeral wreaths. Black circular holes in the water through which these young men disappeared as if down a coal chute into those cold English depths, the surface chopped by the hand of fate that night to the whipped green-white color of frozen spinach. It must have been much like the cold water of Long Island's Great South Bay that lays before me today as I contemplate the events of December 24, 1944. Somehow the common ocean connects this spot to that, across that other ocean, time. And that place is no hallowed "altar of victory" on which those boys were symbolically sacrificed. That night the sea was an unforgiving slab concealing a murderous vortex that stupidly robbed those GIs of their futures in pure "here one minute, gone the next" finality. And today it is in no uncertain terms a silent graveyard 180 feet below the Channel. A gash in the ocean through which the 66th passed to join the drowned and dead of the 1st, and the 4th, and the 29th, and others of dozens of units who had made the same crossing on a much warmer day in June, all without completing it. It's just that there are no white crosses or stars for these 800. Just darkness and murk.



So, on this Christmas Eve 2002, I will think about the last days of those 800 GIs, many of them teenagers, sons who would never have sons or daughters of their own. Perhaps there was a cure for cancer among them. Or a peace plan for a future conflict. Or a small instance of tenderness when it was needed, or the right words at the right time to a single person. I will think about their last vision of Christmas, spent perhaps in a chilly English drill hall with makeshift trees strung with garlands of silver gum wrappers, "ornaments" of balled-up cigarette packs, and crowning stars fashioned from flattened tin cans. And when the last order came, to " gear up and move out," perhaps they were really scared for the first time. They were heading to France, and into combat to reinforce the units being bloodied in the Battle of the Bulge.

Only they never made it. They died before they had the chance to die another day.

[SAMWolf]

A poem written by Tom Cordle as a tribute to Pfc. Ferrel F. McDonnell and the soldiers of the 66th who died that night provides a more eloquent ending to this essay that I could fashion. Maybe on Christmas Eve I will drive down to my local dock and stand at the edge of the bay in the cold wind, where the fingers of the Atlantic curl around the rocks, and repeat those names I learned. Garlan. McNair. Klosterman. Franco. Marzotto. Skibinksi. Verbauen. And I will think about Cordle's words and imagine that night, and try to feel what it must have been like. And then, maybe then, I will feel like I deserve to celebrate Christmas.



Hell is not the place you think
For I have seen its murky ink
Though there is fire down in that hole
It's cold and wet and chills the soul
December Channel, dark and cruel
Coffin on that mournful Yule
Fifty years have passed away
Fifty years like yesterday —

Christmas Eve of '44
The Leopoldville just off shore
Of Cherbourg and its dancing lights
The U-Boat had us in her sights
Torpedo caught us in the hold
The water rushed in — Oh, so cold!
Steel and wood and flesh all met
Oh, God! I wish I could forget!

But heroes rose up everywhere
Brave hearts fought their own despair
To comfort wounded, dying, weak
And tried to find the words to speak
They gave their all that some might live
Till they had nothing left to give
Then prayed to find the strength to stand
"God, Oh God, make me a man!"

The Brilliant came through churning seas
Answering our urgent pleas
She pulled along our starb'rd side
"Jump or die!," her crewmen cried
Men climbed up on the rolling rail
And prayed somehow they would not fail
To breach that twenty feet and odd —
And leaped into the arms of God

Some conquered space and borrowed time
And made the Brilliant or its lines
But others lost their deadly bet
And plunged into the dark, cold, wet
And swallowing sea and fought for breath
And knew the briny taste of death
Or fought the water's clawing pull
Till they were crushed between the hulls

Strong, young soldiers watching wept
For promises would not be kept
For children they had never seen
For all the dying of their dreams
Some were but boys, some not quite men
But they would not be boys again
For only men survived such sights
And all grew old in that one night

Cherbourg glittered on the shore
Laughing at our dreams of war
To die and never fire a shot
To die and never know for what
No glory, only senseless waste
With salty, oily aftertaste
No glory, only drowning dance —
Death by simple, crazy chance

But death is not the end of things
For those who've felt its searing sting
For hearts that will forever feel
For wounds that never really heal
We pay with photos, black and white
We pay with voices in the night
We ask the endless haunting why?
A son or husband had to die

What matters why the soldier falls?
What matters but the answered call?
Who measures sacrifices made?
Who dares deny the price was paid?
And there are channels yet to cross
And wars to fight that can't be lost
And men will die and do their part
Till freedom rings in every heart

So let there be no bitter tears
Let us remember better years
And those whose blood has bought and paid
That we might live lives unafraid
And let us honor valiant men
For here tonight, we say again
There is but one thing worth the price
Of such unselfish sacrifice
"Freedom!" "Freedom!" "Freedom!"

[SAMWolf]

802 Men Went to Watery Grave on Christmas Eve 1944
(By Franklin Scarborough, The Salisbury Post)

Members of the U.S. Army's 66th Infantry Division are still trying to set the record straight as to what happened on Christmas Eve of 1944.

The late Lincoln H. Morgan was a member of the 66th, but he was one of the lucky ones that were transferred to another ship shortly before the converted Belgian liner Leopoldville met her death from a German torpedo, taking 800 men, most of them members of the his outfit, to a watery grave.

Morgan's wife, Eloise, who still lives in Rowan, also wants to help set the record straight in memory of her husband's many friends who went down with the ship. A release titled "'Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas" tells the story. It was Christmas Eve 1944. The outfit was crossing the English Channel on its way to stop Hitler's forces at the Battle of the Bulge. It was at a time when, if the Nazis had broken out, there was nothing to stop them. There was no time to lose, and the high command had reinforcements on nearly anything that could float. A converted Belgian luxury liner built to carry 361 passengers, the Leopoldville was now crammed with nearly 2,500 men of the 66th Division.

At 5:45 on that cold Christmas Eve, tragedy struck suddenly. Without any warning, and less than six miles from Cherbourg, France, a Nazi torpedo blasted into the starboard quarter of the ship, collapsing the two lowest decks into a maze of twisted steel, bunks, duffle bags, and trapped men. The lucky ones died on impact.

The British destroyer HMS Brilliant came alongside so the men could leap to the safety of the waiting ship. But the sea was so rough, many missed and drowned in the frigid water, while others were crushed, screaming, between the steel hulls of the ships as they crashed together.

Other small craft did what they could. There was no panic, even in the rapidly filling compartments. Troops on deck were mustered in perfect order, dressed in overcoats with full combat packs, patiently waiting for rescue. It has been written that the conduct of the troops should be recorded in the annals of military history as among the finest examples of discipline ever observed. Each man stood in blind obedience, awaiting orders.

The tragedy was that there were no orders.

At 8:30 p.m. another explosion marked the collapse of a bulkhead, and within 10 minutes the ship was gone, taking more than 800 of America's finest men to their death in one of the most tragic and senseless blunders of World War II.

Although it was customary to give emergency drills in case of mishap, none had been given. No lifeboat, fire, or abandon-ship drills were held before or during the channel passage. The soldiers were not even told how to fasten a life jacket, or that the collar would snap a man's neck like a hangman's noose unless it was held down when hitting the water.

Most of the lifeboats were rusted to their supports, and worse, the Belgian crew, with bulging suitcases in hand, took what few were operable and left with no effort to help the doomed men. In fact, they pulled away in half-full lifeboats!

Now the only ones who knew how to winch the massive anchors and free the ship had deserted. So it was impossible to tow the sinking ship to safety. The infantrymen aboard were in effect chained to the deep.

After the tragedy, families were told that their loved ones were missing or killed in action, but not that they had been drowned in what has been considered this nation's second greatest maritime disaster. And to this day, many families still haven't officially been told the circumstances of the loss of their loved ones.

Few honors have been bestowed on the dead or medals delivered to survivors. Two men who died trying to rescue comrades from the bowels of the ship were awarded not a medal for heroism, but the Purple Heart, a symbol for being wounded. Although a presidential citation was promised the 66th, it never came.

No sea disaster in history has ever received less publicity. It was as though the Leopoldville and 802 men of the 66th never existed. No questions were asked; no answers given. The official history of the Royal Navy makes no mention of the tragedy. The official "History of the U.S. Army in World War II," in 40 volumes, makes no reference to the disaster.

Representatives from the 66th Division have made pilgrimages to lay wreaths over the spot where the doomed ship rests today as an underwater monument of the heroism of the unsung and ordinary soldier. It is as important a resting place for our nation's dead military heroes as all the cemeteries in France, or at Arlington. Only there are no crosses on neatly trimmed lawns to mark their sacrifice.

And it happened — 58 Christmases ago.

[SAMWolf]

Determined to see that the sacrifice of his former comrades be recognized, Leopoldville survivor Vincent Codianni, with the help of the Veterans Memorial Committee of Waterbury, Connecticut, in the spring of 1996 formed the Leopoldville Memorial Association.

After consulting with appropriate officials at West Point Military Academy, it was decided that the most suitable site for the monument was Ft. Benning, Columbus, Georgia, which is known as the "Home of the Infantry." The National Infantry Museum located there is visited by thousands of Americans every year.

The Leopoldville Disaster Monument was dedicated on November 7, 1997. All 763 names are engraved on the monument.

*The death toll has often been reported as 802. A review of the official Leopoldville Disaster List from the National Archives totals 763 confirmed dead.

[SAMWolf]

A Christmas to Remember

In December of 1944, we soldiers of the 66th Infantry Division were in England preparing for the day we would be called into action. That call came suddenly. With scarcely 24 hours’ notice, the division packed up and headed for Southampton, where about 2,000 of us were loaded aboard the troopship SS Leopoldville.

The Leopoldville was a converted Belgian passenger liner, captained and crewed by the Belgian Merchant Marine. She was a gallant old ship that had carried Allied troops to many ports throughout the war zones. After loading, we moved out with a small convoy into the English Channel and headed for France. It was Christmas Eve.

Toward nightfall, when we were a few miles from Cherbourg on the French coast, a torpedo from a German submarine struck the far end of the ship from where our company was quartered. Pandemonium reigned as the explosion reverberated throughout the ship. Our platoon assembled at our assigned space on deck, practicing the abandon-ship drills we had rehearsed earlier and awaiting orders. Rumors of the terrible loss of life at the far end of the ship drifted up to us. The ship was dead in the water and had begun to list, and it was heaving up and down with the high seas. Possibility of rescue at that point seemed remote.

Then, something awesome happened: A soldier standing on deck behind me began singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in a fine, clear voice. Others joined in, and soon all of us on that part of the ship were singing. I could scarcely sing because of the lump in my throat brought on by this instinctive display of patriotism by these young infantry soldiers, mostly draftees from all corners of America.

I was among the fortunate ones. Shortly before the Leopoldville went down, our escort ship, the destroyer HMS Brilliant, pulled alongside long enough for many of us to leap across as the two ships were bounced together by the heaving seas. Some who attempted the leap missed and fell between the hulls to certain death. Finally, unable to take on more men, the Brilliant backed off and took us to Cherbourg.

Stories of heroism and terror at the stricken end of the ship were related to us as other survivors were brought in by smaller craft that had responded to distress signals for the convoy. Many men who survived the torpedo blast were unable to make it to the rescue vessels or were pulled under as the Leopoldville slid into the deep. She lies there today with memories of those who went down with her.

To this day, when Christmas Eve comes around or when “The Star-Spangled Banner” is played, the same lump wells up in my throat. Tears come to my eyes, and for a moment, a feeling of pride in America replaces the sad memory of the 800 men lost to the torpedo’s blast and the freezing sea.

It truly is one Christmas I will never forget.

-- 1st Lt. Morton Wood Jr.

[The Real Deal]

Morning Sam. Another great post in the Foxhole.

[Jen]

Drop on in to the FReeper Foxhole!

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If you would like to be removed from this daily ping list, it takes only two clicks. Click this link and send a BLANK FReepmail to AntiJen. You will be removed promptly.

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[Jen]

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The Veterans History Project is a unique opportunity for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to play an important role in the preservation of our national collective memory and to learn important lessons from the rich historical resource we have in our military veterans and civilians who served in support of the war effort.

[Jen]

Hi friends. I was just checking my freepmail and pings and noticed the new thread. I shopped all day and am exhausted! Going to bed now. See y'all later.

Excellent thread Sam.

[The Real Deal]

Good morning, AntiJen.

[Jen]

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Huh? Oh, you talking to me? Yawn! I'll be back and will talk to you after I've slept a few hours.

[KineticKitty]

A salute to all soldiers,

especially to the ones that "gave all"

[Aeronaut]

Good morning and Merry Christmas Jen and all.

[Born on the Storm King]

Hey folks! Thanks alot for putting me on the ping list! I just found this! I'll be here often!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[demlosers]

the Belgian crew, with bulging suitcases in hand, took what few were operable and left with no effort to help the doomed men. In fact, they pulled away in half-full lifeboats!

What a nice crew.

[conservativemusician]

Another awesome post by SAM.

The men and women who gave their lives for this country SHOULD be remembered everyday.

Many thanks and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[MistyCA]

I spent half the night with my dog at the emergency hospital:( She is fine now, but I am pooped and need to get some sleep. Sorry I will not get to post much for a while. I was really looking forward to this thread, Sam. Be back later! :)

[CholeraJoe]

Morning, SAM. Another great foxhole post. Keep 'em coming.

Proud to be here, Aim High!

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAM

WOW this poem is so chilling!

Wonderful job of presenting it as usual. Great job on this thread, too.

Thank you SAM.

[Valin]

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on December 24:
0003 -BC- Servius Sulpicius Galba 6th Roman emperor (68-69)
1167 John "without a land" king of England (1199-1216)
1564 Abraham C Bloemaert painter/cartoonist/engraver
1653 Georg Motz composer
1679 Domenico Natale Sarro composer
1689 French van Mieris "the Young" Dutch painter/historian
1714 Rainieri De Calzabigi Italian's literary (1st European Lottery)
1716 Patrice F earl De Nény South Netherlands chairman of Secret Council
1719 Johann Christoph Altnikol composer
1726 Johann Ernst Hartmann composer
1745 Benjamin Rush Byberry PA, physician/general (Continental Army, signed Declaration of Independence)
1754 George Crabbe Aldeburgh England, poet (Everlasting Mercy)
1761 SelŒm III poet/composer/sultan of Turkey (1789-1808)
1773 Joseph Wolfl composer
1791 A Eugène Scribe French dramatist (Bertrand et Raton)
1798 Adam B Mickiewicz Poland, national poet (Pan Tadeusz)
1809 Christopher "Kit" Carson Kentucky, Union Brigadier-General/Indian fighter
1812 Henry Russell composer
1813 Henry Wellington Greatorex composer
1818 James Prescott Joule physicist (discovered conservation of energy)
1822 Matthew Arnold England, poet/critic (Dover Beach)
1822 Charles Hermite French mathematician (E is Transcendent)
1824 Peter Cornelius composer
1826 Ignacy Krzyzanowski composer
1829 Benjamin Ipavec composer
1829 Jose Rogel composer
1837 Sissi Emperor of Austria
1859 Roman Statkowski composer
1867 Manuel de Oliveira Lima Brazilian historian/diplomat
1867 Tevfik Fikret Turkish poet (Servet-i Fünun, Sis)
1868 Emanuel Lasker Germany, world chess champion (1894-21)
1869 Henriëtte Roland Holst-van der Schalk Dutch poet (Women in Forest)
1870 Rosario Scalero composer
1871 Henri Stroethoff Dutch actor (A Chique Little Boy)
1879 Stanislav Pylypovych Lyudkevych composer
1881 Bronislaw Zygmunt Szulc composer
1881 Charles Wakefield Cadman composer
1881 Juan Ramón Jiménez Spain, poet (Distant Gardens, Nobel 1956)
1885 Arthur Dolphin cricketer (Yorkshire & England keeper, later Test umpire)
1887 Louis Jouvet Crozon France, actor (Volpone, Topaze, La Marseillaise)
1889 Vladimir Sokoloff Moscow Russia, actor (Road to Morocco)
1893 Carl Brisson Copenhagen Denmark, actor (Murder at the Vanities)
1893 Ruth Chatterton US actress (Madame X, Sarah & Son)
1894 Georges Guynemer French WWI pilot
19-- Michael Billington England, actor (Colonel Foster-UFO, The Quest)
1904 Daniel K Womack singer/guitarist
1904 Herbert D Riley US vice-admiral (WWII, Guadalcanal, Okinawa)
1905 Howard Hughes reclusive billionaire (Hughes Aircraft)/inventor
1905 Anna "Ans" van Dike ("the Young") Jewish nazi collaborator
1906 Franz Waxman Königshütte, Germany, composer (Day at the Races)
1906 John Walker museum director
1907 I[sidore] F[einstein] Stone US journalist (IF Stone's Weekly, Columbia Award 1971)
1909 Adam Popovich composer
1909 Adam Rapacki Polish minister of Foreign Affairs (1956-68)
1910 Mitchell Ayres Milwaukee WI, orchestra leader (Hollywood Palace)
1910 Betty Ann Davies London England, actress (Tough Guy)
1910 Fritz [Reuter] Leiber Jr US, sci-fi author (Bazaar of the Bizarre)
1911 Eric Briault educationalist
1911 Malcolm MacEwen writer
1913 Karl Michael Komma composer
1914 Dorothy Hyson actress (Ghoul, Spare a Copper, Sing as We Go)
1914 Guus Verstraete Sr [August de Graef] Dutch actor/director (Black Magic)
1918 Anwar El Sadat Egypt, President of Egypt (1970-81)
1920 Dave Bartholomew Louisiana, jazz artist/songwriter (Blueberry Hill)
1921 Bill Dudley NFL halfback (Pittsburgh, Detroit, Washington)
1921 Gerard Thomas Victory composer
1922 Ava Gardner Grabtown NC, actress (On the Beach, Night of the Iguana)
1923 Wilton S Mkwayi South African ANC leader
1924 [Irving] Lee Dorsey New Orleans LA, vocalist (Working in the Coal Mine)
1924 Roy Miller cricketer (West Indies all-rounder in one Test 1953, 23 & 0-28)
1924 Willem Drees economist/Dutch politician (DS'70)
1926 Ronald Draper cricketer (South African batsman vs Australia 1949-50)
1927 Mary Higgins Clark Bronx NY, author (A Cry in the Night, Stillwatch)
1927 Teresa Stich-Randall US soprano (Vienna State Opera)
1929 Noel Da Costa composer
1930 Robert Joffrey [Abdullah Jaffa Anver Bey Khan] US, choreographer (Joffrey Ballet)
1931 Jill Bennett Penang Malay, actress (Lady Jane, Concrete Jungle)
1931 Mauricio Kagel Argentina/German composer
1932 [Michael] Colin Cowdrey English cricket player
1932 Colin Cowdrey cricketer (in India England batsman, 1st to 100 Tests)
1938 Ralp Inbar Dutch TV host (Banana Split)
1940 Jorma Kaukonen rock guitarist/vocalist (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
1940 Paul Tagliabue NFL commissioner (1989- )
1940 Anthony Fauci US health official
1943 Christiane Schmidtmer Heidelberg Germany, actress (Ship of Fools)
1943 Tatton Sykes English baron/large landowner
1944 Erhard Keller German Federal Republic, 500 meter speed skater (Olympics-gold-1968, 72)
1944 Mike Curb Savannah GA, singer (Mike Curb Congregation)
1945 Lemmy [Ian Kilminster] rocker (Hawkwind, Motorhead-Built for Speed)
1945 Nicholas Meyer director (Star Trek II Wrath of Khan)
1946 Sharon Farrell Sioux City IA, (Lori-Hawaii 5-0, Young & Restless)
1946 John Akkerman Dutch guitarist/composer (Focus-Can't Stand Noise)
1946 Judy Tyler Los Angeles CA, playmate (Jan 1966)
1949 Cameron Seward LPGA golfer
1950 Libbi Larsen composer
1950 Peter te Bos Dutch singer (Claw Boys Claw)
1951 Johnny Contardo rocker (Sha Na Na-Shannon)
1955 Clarence Gilyard Jr Moses Lake WA, actor (Chips, Duck Factory)
1955 Anwar Khan cricketer (bowled four overs for Pakistan 1979)
1956 Stephanie Hodge comedian/actress (I Madman, Happily Ever After)
1957 Ian Burden Sheffield England, rock bassist (Human League-Only Human)
1962 Michael Ray rocker
1963 Mary Ramsey singer (10,000 Maniacs)
1963 Timo Jutila Tampere Finland, hockey defenseman (Team Finland)
1964 Elbert Shelley NFL cornerback (Atlanta Falcons)
1964 Gary Muller South Africa, tennis star
1964 Marcel van der Net Dutch soccer player (FC Utrecht)
1964 Mark Valley Odgensvurg NY, actor (Days of Our Lives)
1965 Erika von Heiland Angeles City Philippines, US badminton player (Olympics-92,96)
1965 Michael Haynes NFL wide receiver (New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons)
1965 Nancy Reno Elmhurst IL, WPVA volleyballer (Olympics-96)
1965 Winston Moss NFL linebacker (Seattle Seahawks)
1966 Deidrich Bader Washington DC, actor (Oswald-Drew Carey Show)
1968 Joe Scuderi cricketer (South Australian all-rounder)
1969 Kenny "Damn" Kelly Paterson NJ, rapper (Riff-Judy had a Boyfriend)
1970 Filmel Johnson NFL defensive back (Buffalo Bills)
1970 Marian Smerciak Martin Czechoslovakia, hockey defenseman (Team Slovakia 1998)
1970 Michael Batiste NFL/WLAF defensive tackle (Cowboys, Frankfurt Galaxy)
1970 Romeo Wouden Dutch soccer player (Dordrecht '90, Heerenveen)
1971 Ricky Martin Puerto Rico, singer (Menudo)/actor (General Hospital)
1971 Tamir Bloom New York NY, fencer-epee (Olympics-96)
1973 Eddie Pope Greensboro NC, soccer defender (Olympics-gold-96)
1975 Natalie Ward Australian softball shortstop/2nd baseman (Olympics-bronze-96)
1985 Gregory Scott director

---

Deaths which occurred on December 24:
1069 Godfried II with the Beard, duke of Neder-Lutherans, dies
1380 John von Neumarkt German bishop/Chancellor Karel IV, dies
1453 John Dunstable English composer, dies
1524 Vasco da Gama Portuguese explorer/viceroy of Cochin India, dies at about 55
1541 Andreas R Bodenstein von Carlstadt radical Lutheran, dies at about 61
1548 Maximilian of Egmond Dutch count/stadholder of Frisia, dies
1660 Mary I Henriette Stuart queen of England, dies at 29
1707 Noel Coypel French painter, dies at 78
1823 Philipp Christoph Kayser composer, dies at 68
1862 Joseph Funk composer, dies at 84
1863 W M Thackeray writer, dies at 52
1869 Edwin M[cMasters] Stanton US Secretary of War (1861-65), dies at 55
1885 Louis-Prosper Gachard Belgian historian, dies at 85
1898 Eugeniusz Pankiewicz composer, dies at 41
1904 Juliaan Dillens Flemish sculptor, dies at 55
1907 Isidor Feinstein "Izzy" Stone journalist (IF Stone's Weekly), dies
1908 François-Auguste Gevaert Belgian musicologist/composer, dies at 80
1909 Nicolaas G Pierson director Suriname/Dutch Bank, dies at 80
1930 Eduard David German minister (constitution of Weimar), dies at 67
1930 Oskar Nedbal composer, dies at 56
1932 Eyvind Alnaes composer, dies at 60
1935 Alban Maria Johannes Berg composer, dies at 50
1942 Admiral Jean Darlan French naval officer is murdered
1942 Friedrich Klose composer, dies at 80
1942 Jean Darlan French admiral, murdered by gaullists
1942 Konstantin Dmitrieyevich Balmont Russian poet, dies at 75
1944 Joseph Gustav Mraczek composer, dies at 66
1945 Francisco Pujol composer, dies at 67
1952 Henry A "Hans" Kramers Dutch theoretical physicist, dies at 58
1955 Nana Bryant actress (Mrs Nestor-Our Miss Brooks), dies at 67
1957 Norma Talmadge US actress (sign on bay), dies at 60
1961 Guy de Lioncourt composer, dies at 76
1966 Gaspar Cassado Moreu composer, dies at 69
1972 Charles Atlas [Angelo Siciliano] body builder, dies at 79
1972 Ernst Kreuder writer, dies at 69
1974 Tilly Losch actress (Duel in the Sun, Good Earth), dies at 70
1975 Bernard Herrmann US movie composer, dies at 64
1975 Otto AP Fürst von Bismarck-Schönhausen German diplomat, dies at 78
1976 Victor Stanitsin actor (War & Peace, Jubilee), dies at 79
1977 Harriët Freezer Dutch journalist/author, dies at 66
1979 Dirk Uipko Stikker Dutch CEO (Heineken)/Secretary-General NATO, dies at 82
1979 Rudi [Rudolf] Dutschke German student leader, dies at 39
1980 Alec Lafayette Chew Wilder composer, dies at 73
1980 Karl Dönitz German great admiral/Führer (1945), dies at 89
1982 Louis Aragon French poet (Pour un Réalisme Socialiste), dies at 85
1984 Peter Lawford actor (The Thin Man), dies of cardiac arrest at 61
1984 Ian Hendry actor (Assassin, Get Carter, Repulsion), dies at 53
1986 Gardner F[rancis] Fox author (Kothar-Barbarian Swordsman), dies at 75
1987 John M "Joop" de Uyl Dutch social-democratic premier (1973-77), dies at 68
1991 Walter Hudson 1,025 lb man, dies at 46
1992 Abdulkadir Widjojoatmodjo Java diplomat, dies
1992 Pierre Culliford [Peyo] Belgian cartoonist (Smurfs), dies at 64
1993 Alexander Mackendrick British/US director (Lady Killers), dies at 81
1993 Norman Vincent Peale rev (Power of Positive Thinking), dies at 95
1993 Yen Chia-kan PM/President of Taiwan (1963-72, 75-78), dies
1994 Jimmy Buddy Lee Land Ace singer, dies at 57
1994 John Eastburn Boswell medievalist, dies at 47
1994 John James Osborne (Entertainer Luther), playwright, dies of cardia arrest at 65
1994 John Keith Wright English Assistant Secretary of State (1971-84), dies at 66
1994 Julie Haydon [Donella Donaldson] US actress (Scoundrel), dies at 84
1994 Louise H "Lous" Hensen actress (Uncle Wanja, Charlotte), dies at 74
1994 Nathan I. Daniel inventor (Guitars), dies at 82
1994 Rossano Brazzi Italian resistance fight/actor (Final Justice), dies at 78
1995 Geoffrey Pinnington journalist, dies at 76
1995 Harry McLevy trade unionist, dies at 59
1996 Edward Leadbitter politician, dies at 77
1996 Nguyen Huu Tho President of Vietnam (1980-81), dies
1996 Peter Dormer arts writer, dies at 47
1997 Alan Fluck musical educationalist, dies at 69
1997 Anthea Joseph music producer, dies at 57
1997 James Komack producer (Courtship of Eddie's Father), dies at 67
1997 Toshiro Mifune Japanese actor (Shogun), dies at 77

---

On this day...
0640 John IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1046 Pope Clement II [Suitger] elected
1294 Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani chosen as Pope Boniface VIII
1476 400 Burgundy soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy
1515 Thomas Wolsey appointed English Lord Chancellor
1565 Compromise of the Nobles closes against inquisition
1568 Uprising of Morisco's in Granada
1593 Storm hits Texel: 40 ships hit, 500 killed
1651 John van Riebeeck departs to Cape of Good Hope
1715 Swedish troops occupy Norway
1724 Benjamin Franklin arrives in London
1798 Russia & England sign Second anti-French Coalition
1799 Jakobijns plot against Napoleon uncovered
1814 Treaty of Ghent (end of the War of 1812) signed
1818 "Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; sung for 1st time the next day
1832 1st US Negro hospital founded by whites chartered, Savannah GA
1832 HMS Beagle anchors in Wigwam Bay at Cape Receiver
1851 Fire devastates Library of Congress in Washington, destroys 35,000 volumes
1860 Joseph Jefferson's "Rip Van Winkle" premieres in New York NY
1864 Battle of Gordonsville VA
1865 Several Confederate veterans form the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski TN
1871 Giusseppi Verdi's "Aida" premieres in Cairo, at Suez canal opening
1874 Pope Pius IX proclaims a jubilee for 1875
1884 Austria-Hungary admits King Leopold II's Congo Free State
1889 Daniel Stover & William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake
1893 Henry Ford completes his 1st useful gas motor
1894 Scheveningse fishing boats destroyed by storm
1894 Soccer team Achilles '94 forms in Axes
1898 Herman Heijermans' "Ghetto" premieres in Amsterdam
1900 Herman Heijermans' "Hope of Blessing" premieres in Amsterdam
1904 German SW Africa abolishes slavery of young children
1906 Reginald A Fessenden became 1st to broadcast music over radio (Massachusetts)
1910 Luisa Tetrazzini sings to 250,000 people at Lotta's Fountain
1912 Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards
1914 German plane drops bombs on Dover England
1920 Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (New York NY)
1922 BBC sends 1st British radio play "Truth about Father Christmas"
1922 London Coloseum opens
1924 1st radio transmission of NCRV in Netherlands
1924 Albania becomes a republic (ex-premier Ahmed Zogoe's coup)
1924 Richard Rodgers Theater (46th St Chanin's) opens at 226 W 46th NYC
1924 School in Babb's Switch OK catches fire, 36 die
1927 Test Cricket debut of Walter Hammond, who scored 51 & took 5-36 vs South Africa
1928 George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) opens at 152 W 54th St NYC
1930 Federico García Lorca's "La Zapatera Prodigiosa" premieres in Madrid
1932 Arturo Alessandri wins presidental election in Chile
1933 Paris express train derails & kills 160, injures 300 (France)
1934 Grimmett takes 9-180 for South Africa as Queensland make 430
1935 Bradman scores 233 in 191 minutes, South Africa vs Queensland, 28 fours 1 six
1935 National Council of Negro Women forms
1936 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley CA
1937 Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia
1941 1st ships of Admiral Nagumo's Pearl Harbor-fleet return to Japan
1942 1st powered flight of V-1 buzz bomb, Peenemünde, Germany
1942 Red army occupies German airports at Tasjinskaja & Morozowsk
1943 FDR appoints General Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces
1943 Terence Rattigan's "While the Sun Shines" premieres in London
1946 4th French republic established
1946 US General MacNarney gives 800,000 "minor nazi's" amnesty
1948 1st US house completely sunheated is occupied (Dover MA)
1948 Greek government disbands due to state of war, press censorship
1950 Cleveland Browns win NFL championship, beat Los Angeles 30-28
1951 1st televised opera (Amahl & the Night Visitor)
1951 United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via the UN
1953 2 fast express trains crash head-on, killing 103 (Czechoslovakia)
1953 Wellington-Auckland (New Zealand) express train swept away in flood kills 166
1953 KHOL (now KHGI) TV channel 13 in Kearney NE (ABC) begins broadcasting
1953 KOA (now KCNC) TV channel 4 in Denver CO (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 René Coty elected President of France
1954 Laos gains its independence
1954 Council for the Children Protection forms in Netherlands
1956 "I Love Lucy" Christmas show airs, never put in syndication
1956 Ferdinand de Lesseps statue blown up in Port Said Egypt
1960 Dutch bishops question papacy values
1961 Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3 in AFL championship game
1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1963 Greek & Turks riot in Cyprus
1964 Shooting begins on "The Cage", the pilot for Star Trek
1966 Luna 13 lands on Moon
1966 USAF CL-44 military charter crashes near Binh Thai Vietnam kills 129
1966 "Joyful Noise" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 12 performances
1967 Pirate Radio Pegasus starts broadcasting off New Zealand
1967 China People's Republic performs nuclear test at Lop Nor People's Rebublic of China
1968 Apollo 8 astronauts' Christmas reading (Book of Genesis) while orbiting Moon
1968 WATU (now WAGT) TV channel 26 in Augusta GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1970 9 Jews are convicted in Leningrad for hijacking a plane
1970 Walt Disney's "The Aristocats" is released
1971 Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke found 10 days later
1973 Ferryboat capsized off coast of Ecuador, drowning 200
1974 Cardinals' Lou Brock is named Sportsman of the Year
1979 1st Ariane-rocket launched
1980 Americans remembered Iran hostages by shining lights for 417 seconds
1981 Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa & Lisa Evers marry
1981 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1982 Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1 ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball classic
1984 Palace coup in Mauritania
1986 French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released
1986 Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab
1989 Panama's dictator, Manual Noriega seeks asylum at the Vatican embassy
1989 Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe
1990 Saddam says Israel will be Iraq's 1st target
1990 Expos trade Tim Raines to White Sox for Ivan Calderon & Barry Jones
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Soviet Union
1992 President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger of Iran-contra affair
1994 4 Moslem fundamentalists capture Air France pilot in Algiers
1997 1st time a Channukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Laos : Sovereignty Day (1954)
Libya : Independence Day (1951)

---

Religious Observances
Christian : Christmas Eve
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Sharbel Makhlouf, Lebanese monk, hermit

---

Religious History
1784 Methodism was officially organized in the newlyÂindependent United States of America, in Baltimore. Francis Asbury was consecrated the first Methodist bishop, a few days later.
1818 In St. Nicholas Church at Oberndorf, Austria, church organist Franz Gruber, 31, composed a melody on guitar for the poem, "Stille Nacht," written earlier by pastor Joseph Mohr, 26. This evening the world heard "Silent Night" sung for the very first time.
1871 The Northside Tabernacle in Chicago was dedicated by evangelist Dwight L. Moody. It became the original structure of what is today the Moody Memorial Church.
1943 German theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison: 'Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy.'
1951 "Amahl and the Night Visitors," a Christmas musical, had its TV debut. Written by composer Gian Carlo Menotti, it was the first musical to be broadcast over television.

---

Thought for the day :
" The wise shepherd never trusts his flock to a smiling wolf. "

[manna]

Bump ...

[Fudd]

My grandfather was a medic in the 66th, and was on the Cheshire, which along with the Leopoldville was transporting the 66th to Cherbourg to relieve the troops that fought in the battle of the bulge. I remember him telling me the torpedo missed his ship and hit the next one over. I think it was the hardest part of the war for him, as he must have known many of the men who died that night.

A week earlier, his division had been told that they would be having real turkey for Christmas. When the orders came to ship out, my grandfather and some buddies "liberated" some turkeys from the kitchen and took them over to France. Being medics, he and his buddies were dispersed to different units. On his first night in France, he found a French family to cook the turkey and share a meal. Growing up, this was always the war story that he always willing to share.

[meandog]

Christmas rememberances:
Somewhere in North Atlantic 1968, aboard nuclear submarine USS George Washington (SSBN598):

It is cold in the dark space of the escape trunk where I have gone to change the scope of the floating wire antenna we drag behind us to pick up the VLF signals from Maine. The hatch is shut behind me because of the subsafe rule (in case the hatch above was breached the only death would be the person in the trunk). It means I am alone. I see ice crystals forming on the sides of the bulkhead as I engage the hydraulic engine that moves the wire. I think of the home I've been away from for the first time in my 18 years and I shiver with nostalgia. I am terribly lonely, sad, wishing I was anyplace but where I am. The feeling of despondency continues for the nearly 30 minutes it takes for me to complete running out the antenna. I pump oil back in the boot seal on the machine so it is safe from sea pressure and notify the control room by ship intercom that I am ready to come down. As they crack the hatch, I hear music...Christmas Carols. I go down the ladder to the crews mess and it is decorated with the spirit of the Yuletide. There is a case of beer our captain had secreted on board just for the occassion. The cooks have made pizza and one of my buddies is threading our movie projector to run "It's a Wonderful Life." The despondency leaves me, I remember what Christmas is all about!

[Peaches]

As always, a wonderful thread. Thank you!!
I would like to take this time to wish everyone Happy Holidays.
God bless our veterans. This is a special Christmas Wish to all veterans. My all your days be safe and bright.
Without veterans, there would be no America!

[GailA]

[HiJinx]

Interesting, no mention of the Leopoldville in either deaths or events for this date...

What a tragedy...

Great post, as usual, SAM!

[SAMWolf]

Morning Real Deal.

[SAMWolf]

Welcome to the Foxhole.

[SAMWolf]

I spent half the night with my dog at the emergency hospital:( She is fine now..

Good to hear your dog's fine. What did dhe get into?

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Cote.

[SAMWolf]

You're Welcome and Merry Christmas to you.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Bentfeather. I was looking for a Christmas eve poem for the Belve. That's what led me to the article.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning CholeraJoe.

[SAMWolf]

I thank your grandfather for his Service. God was watching over him that night.

Sounds like your grandfather was a pretty good scrounger.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the History Valin.

SmilingWolf.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks meandog for sharing with us.

My Christmas in 1968 was spent at Fort Leonard Wood. Also my first Christmas away from family.

It's amazing how the "little things" that the Officiers and your buddies did meant so much around the Holidays.

[Cate]

Merry Christmas Eve SAMWolf, hope Santa is good to you and yours.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Peaches.We appreciate your dropping in.

[SAMWolf]

Hi HiJinx! Hope your Christmas Holiday is going well.

[SAMWolf]

Merry Christmas GailA. Thanks for providing the Holiday graphics.

[Soaring Feather]

That's what led me to the article.

Good one to SAM, I have read only part of it, but will finish it later. I I have someone coming at 12:00!!

Hurry, Hurry!!

[SAMWolf]

Hi Cate. I know Santa is bring me the "Band of Brothers" DVD set so I know he's being good to me.

I hope he brings you all you wished for too.

[SevenofNine]

Good morning and Merry Christmas EVE

Well report off BBC just broke Israelis troops has move out of Little Town of Bethelrem at this hour allow Christian pilgriams celebrate Christmas in Israel

Also report off AFP wire reporting that Israel is not allow Arafat celebrate Christmas at Cathoic church in Bethelerm either

HA HA Arafat you loser

What in the world you doing at Christian Church dude

IDIOT

[The Real Deal]

Thank you Peaches, Good morning. I would also like to wish each and every one of you A MERRY CHRISTMAS.

[The Real Deal]

I too had to go sleep for a few hours. I stayed up late last night, just to catch your post before I went to bed. I can't stay to long this morning, because I have to do everything that I have been putting off for the last month.

[SAMWolf]

because I have to do everything that I have been putting off for the last month.

I know that feeling.

[The Real Deal]

Today: December 24, 2002 at 9:05:19 PST

Bush Makes Thank You Calls to U.S. Troops

By SCOTT LINDLAW, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush called military personnel stationed around the world, from Alaska to Afghanistan, to tell them Tuesday they are in Americans' hearts during the holidays.

Bush spent an hour on the phone, dialing up members from all five branches of the military. The White House would not specify precisely where each person was, saying only they were "deployed to locations such as Bosnia, Afghanistan, South Korea, vessels at sea and Alaska." It wasn't clear whether Bush spoke to troops in the Persian Gulf region.

"The president called them to thank them for their sacrifices and to let them know the thoughts and prayers of the American people are with them, to express his appreciation and that of the American people for the sacrifices they are making in the defense of freedom," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

Bush made the calls Tuesday morning from Camp David, where he is spending a long Christmas break this week.

Joining him were his sister, Dorothy Koch, brothers Neil and Marvin Bush, and their families; twin daughters Jenna and Barbara; his parents, former President Bush and Barbara Bush; Laura Bush and her mother, Jenna Welch; and the Bushes' cat and two dogs.

On a day when he spoke to far-flung troops, Bush was also monitoring twin crises from Camp David: the possibility of war with Iraq, and a deepening nuclear dispute with North Korea, Stanzel said.

I thought you guy's might find this interesting. Think Clintoon did the same?

[SAMWolf]

"The president called them to thank them for their sacrifices and to let them know the thoughts and prayers of the American people are with them, to express his appreciation and that of the American people for the sacrifices they are making in the defense of freedom,"

Thanks for posting this Real Deal.

[SAMWolf]

Hope Springs Eternal: Legendary Entertainer Continues His Patriotic Support of U.S. Service Members
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2002 - American entertainment icon Bob Hope may be getting along in years - he's 99 now - but he continues his patriotic support of U.S. troops assigned stateside and deployed around the world.

Hope, born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England, on May 29, 1903 (his family emigrated to America in 1907), became a star on vaudeville, Broadway, radio, movies and television - and a hero to U.S. servicemen and women.

He became famous for flourishing a golf club during his comedy act. But Hope also became well-known as a patriot who'd over the last six decades risked his life to visit with and entertain more than 12 million U.S. service men and women during 700 trips stateside and overseas in peace and war.

This year, "Give Thanks America," a national initiative co-sponsored by DoD, Hewlett-Packard, and Sorenson Media, salutes Hope, showing historical video clips from his trips on its website at http://givethnksusa-ecdc-250-239.digisle.net/hope/.

Hope's trips to see troops began in May 1941, when the comedian and movie star - soon to be known as "America's No. 1 Soldier in Greasepaint" - traveled with other entertainers to March Field in California and performed a morale boosting radio show for airmen.

After America entered World War II on Dec. 7, 1941, following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hope began visiting service members at military posts across the nation, and in theaters of war in Europe and the Pacific.

He made his first trip to entertain troops in a combat area in 1943, visiting troops stationed in England, Africa, Sicily and Ireland.

After the Allies' victory over the Axis powers in 1945, Hope continued entertaining service members throughout the Cold War. He made numerous visits to overseas U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.

In 1983, Hope visited Marines stationed in Beirut, Lebanon. He also went overseas to see service members in 1987 and 1990.

At Christmas in 1990, the comedian and his wife, Delores, cheered U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield, right before the launch of Operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi military occupation.

In the mid-1990s, Hope returned to England to participate in commemoration ceremonies marking the end of World War II.

Hope, honored five times by the U.S. Congress, has been recognized for his patriotic efforts, too. The USNS Bob Hope, a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship, was christened in May 1997. The comedian also had an Air Force C-17 transport plane named after him.

In October 1997, Bob Hope was made an Honorary Veteran by both houses of Congress - the first time an individual has been so honored in U.S. history.