I think all of you are aware of the song “White Christmas,” written by Irving Berlin in 1940. At the time, he said to his secretary, “Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I’ve ever written – heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody’s ever written.” That’s a pretty bold statement.
The first performance of the song was by Bing Crosby on the Kraft Music Hall radio show on Christmas Day, 1941. In 1942 it was sung as a duet by Bing and Marjorie Reynolds (although her voice was dubbed by Martha Mears) in the musical Holiday Inn. It won an Oscar for the best song of the year. Hundreds of other singers have recorded it since that time, but its still associated with Bing Crosby by most people. When I hear him sing White Christmas, it brings back all kinds of images and memories of Christmas. His recording of White Christmas is listed as the best selling single of all time, with over 50 million records sold. It looks like Irving Berlin knew what he was talking about.
It was during World War II, and the song really resonated with service men and women, and also their families who were left at home. Those who found themselves far from home and fighting a war on two fronts, could only dream of how Christmas used to be. The same was true for those on the home front who were separated from their loved ones during Christmas. It must have been a lonely time for everyone. The lyrics say it all. “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know, where the treetops glisten, and children listen, to hear sleigh bells in the snow. I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white.” It’s a song about family, home, holidays, love, and longing for a more peaceful world than the one they found themselves involved in during World War II.
When troops were near a radio they could listen to Armed Forces Radio and hear Christmas songs, including White Christmas. Almost every week, Bob Hope broadcast his radio show from a different military base. For over 50 years he continued entertaining troops around the world with his annual Christmas show. Every show included someone singing White Christmas, and ending the show with Silent Night.
I was one of the lucky ones who got to see the Bob Hope Show in 1966, when they performed for us at the 4th Infantry Division’s base camp in the Central Highlands near Pleiku, Vietnam. I had just recovered from a slight case of Malaria, and was able to attend the show with several thousand other guys. Many of us from our unit sat on the side of a hill a long way from the stage. Not exactly ringside seats but at least we were there. That year Bob had Phyllis Diller, Vic Damone, Anita Bryant, Joey Heatherton, the Kim Sisters, Miss World, and of course, Les Brown and his band of renown. The show lasted about two hours. Seeing so many troops assembled in one place, we realized a few enemy rockets or mortar rounds could have been disastrous during the show. That morning before the show, two of our company trucks were blown up, and some people were wounded. I’ll give Bob Hope and the performers who accompanied him credit. They were definitely in harm’s way, especially in Vietnam, where there were no front lines. Every place they performed was surrounded by enemy territory.
As far as we could tell, Bob Hope was on stage. Not exactly ringside seats, but we did share a pair of binoculars to check out the women on stage.
Near the end of the show White Christmas was sung. I know I wasn’t the only person who felt sad and homesick listening to the song, as I thought of Christmas back on the farm with snow, a decorated Christmas tree, and our family all together, enjoying a peaceful holiday. As Anita Bryant sang Silent Night to close the show, I looked around me and saw a lot of battle-hardened young men with tears rolling down their cheeks, as they quietly sang along with her. I would bet the veterans of World War II and Korea felt the same way we did as they listened to those songs when they were far from home and family during Christmas.
Whenever I think of those two Christmases I spent in the army, I’m reminded how important home and family are, especially during the Christmas season. I think most of us don’t even mind a little snow to make it a white Christmas. If you live in the North Country like we do, it’s tradition. Snow is a part of who we are.
After Thanksgiving is over and the last piece of turkey leftovers have been consumed, we get out the 1954 movie musical, White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen. The movie begins on Christmas Eve, 1944, somewhere on the European front during World War II. Needless to say, Bing Crosby sings White Christmas in the movie, and then our Christmas season begins.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…
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