During the Christmas season, many people get nostalgic and remember the past Christmas, especially the happy ones with family and friends or an unusual one. This is especially true for those of us who are in our older years. As our energy levels are lower, we spend more time sitting and remembering the happy times of years gone by.
Recently, it came to mind during one of my nostalgic “memory sessions” that I gave over the last Christmas season, Christmas 1951 70 years ago.
In the summer of 1949, an Army Reserve Unit, the 426 Field Artillery Battalion, was organized with units in Mount Airy and Winston-Salem. Battery “A” and the medical department were in Mount Airy, the rest of the units in Winston-Salem.
When the Korean War began in June 1950, the 426 was activated immediately and reported to Fort Bragg in September. There were 78 men from Mount Airy, Surry County who were activated and ordered to report to Fort Bragg. Some of these men were soon released for various reasons and returned home.
The 426 stayed in Fort Bragg until the summer of 1951, when it was used in the Dolan barracks in Schwäbisch Hall.
The men from Mount Airy, Surry County served in key positions throughout the battalion, particularly in the “A” battery. The vast majority were WWII veterans; most had families with children at home in Mount Airy.
As Christmas drew nearer in 1951, what was the best way to celebrate Christmas time 3,000 miles from home and families? There was general consensus that we should do something special to illustrate the true spirit of the Christmas present.
After discussing the men, we decided to have a Christmas party for the young children in an orphanage near our military base. There were about 50 children living in this orphanage. Most of the parents of these children were killed during the battles of World War II. We wanted to give this Christmas party with our own money without the involvement of the military command. Under the direction of senior NCOs from Mount Airy, Surry County, we took a collection and donated several hundred dollars.
The plan was to take the children to our military base, feed them with traditional Christmas dinner, visit Santa Claus and give each child a present and a treat with sweets and fruits. The army canteen was decked out with a Christmas tree, Christmas lights, and other Christmas greens and decorations just like they would have been made at home. An army fair had never been so elegantly decorated for Christmas.
The children were brought to the base a few days before Christmas so that the men could celebrate their own celebration on Christmas Day. A soldier would host every child (my guest was a little 5 year old who didn’t understand English; I didn’t understand German either, but the Christmas spirit overcame the language barriers).
The plan worked perfectly; the children were clearly excited, even in the midst of a group of strange men in army uniforms and in an army canteen. The men were equally delighted with the Christmas spirit and the opportunity to keep a group of children happy. They enjoyed a touch of Christmas, much like back home in Mount Airy. The children enjoyed a wonderful Christmas party and were happy about the food, gifts and treats.
These Mount Airy, Surry County men made the Christmas cheer for children 3,000 miles from home, children who might have had little to celebrate in a country devastated by the devastation of World War II. There had been little recovery in Germany since the end of the war. Destruction was seen everywhere; Millions of German soldiers and civilians were killed during the war, including many of the parents of the children we served. The German economy had not recovered and a large majority of the population was fed by American aid measures under the Marshall Plan.
What men from Mount Airy / Surry County did for some German orphans at Christmas 1951 is typical of what American soldiers do everywhere, be it in Germany, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq or Japan.
The men from Mount Airy, Surry County who were known to be in Schwäbisch Hall for Christmas 1951 and to support the Christmas program for the orphans included the following: FSGT Zack Blackmon, PFC Frank Haynes, MSGT Thurmond Miller, SFC Joe Bill Neal, SFC Jack Leach, SGT Calvin Welborn, SFC Robert Holder, FSGT Austin Perdue, SFC Jack Robertson, SFC James Callahan, MSGT George Carroway, SFC Harold Sells, SGT Cecil Chandler, SGT Russell Inscore, SGT Aubrey Wall, SGT Dennis Chilton, SGT Charles Allred, SFC Howard Beeson, SGT Harry King, CPL Paul Welborn, SGT Kent Gibson, SGT George Worth, PFC Buford Harvey, SFC Robert Riggs, SFC Harold Moxley, SGT John Browne. (If I missed someone, please forgive).
All of these men, except Robert Riggs and me, have since passed on to their eternal wages. Undoubtedly, this act of kindness shown to a group of orphans is part of their written record. Your children and grandchildren can be proud of what their fathers and grandfathers did 70 years ago to make Christmas a happy occasion for some orphans. They followed Master Teacher’s example when he said, “Let the little children come to me and don’t stop them. Because such is the kingdom of heaven. And he put his hands on their heads and blessed them ”(Matthew 19: 4).
I’m ending this nostalgic journey into the past with a personal note: John Browne and I took the train south to Göppingen, Germany, the home base of the 28th Infantry Division, to spend Christmas Day with my cousin Grover Holder. Once there, we met other men from Mount Airy, including Bass Shelton, whose house was on Franklin Street. Fred Murphy, who with his brothers had a country music show on WPAQ radio in the late 1940s.
John Browne spent many years in the office supply business after returning home. He served on the Mount Airy City Schools Board of Education for nine years and Mount Airy City Commissioner for 22 years. Grover Holder served as a Baptist pastor for over 50 years, serving churches in North Carolina and Virginia. Upon returning home, Fred Murphy continued his country music career. I was a teacher / administrator at Mount Airy City Schools and Surry Community College for 36 years.
Christmas 1951 could have been a lonely, depressing day, but the true American spirit of helping the neighbor brought joy and a mood of celebration to both a group of orphaned children and a group of men 3,000 miles from home . The true spirit of the Christmas present can be found and lived wherever one is on this special day.
Editor’s Note: The Reader’s Diary is an occasional post in the Mount Airy News containing memories and stories from local residents.