Free Republic

Hard to believe that this much time has passed. On Christmas Eve 2004, I shared this editorial with all my FRiends here, while I was icebound in West Virginia heading back from leave to report for mobilization. And then, on Christmas Eve 2005, while downrange in Ramadi, Iraq, I shared this editorial with all of you again. And this year once again, from our new digs in Florida with The Bride and my new family, I offer this beautiful story, a very favorite of mine, for all my FRiends again. Take the time to read it - REALLY read it...

Yes America, There is a Santa Claus By: Amy Lutz In 1897, a young girl named Virginia wrote a letter to The New York Sun, asking if Santa Claus did in fact exist. Newsman Francis Pharcellus Church responded with a now-famous editorial entitled “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.” Virginia worried, since she had neither seen Santa Claus nor did she possess tangible proof of his existence, that the jolly man was not real. Francis Church reminded Virginia, and all of us, that seeing is not believing. We must first have faith and believe in the existence of Santa...

    Dear Editor—     I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?     Virginia O'Hanlon     115 West Ninety Fifth Street Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's...

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun: Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O'Hanlon 115 West Ninety Fifth Street Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see....

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps. "DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa...

IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS? We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of "The Sun": Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you see it in "The Sun" it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O'Hanlon 115 West 95th Street Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age....

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps. "DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa...

Last Christmas, I shared this editorial with all my FRiends here, while I was icebound in West Virginia heading back from leave to report for mobilization. This year, at my station in Ramadi, Iraq, on Christmas morning, as tracer rounds thread the sky southeast of me, I offer this simple story, a very favorite of mine, for all my FRiends again. Take the time to read it - REALLY read it - and understand that Santa has visited your troops, and he left the greatest gift of them all. A Soldier's Merry Christmas to you all!