Christmas and Wartime
:58
Sydney Lewis
A Navy veteran recalls a wartime Christmas.
Broadcast: Dec 25 2003 on NPR Day to DaySeries: WCAI/WNAN Sonic IDs Subjects: Holidays, War
Commentary: Christmas memories from World War II
December 25, 2003 from Day to Day
ALEX CHADWICK, host: And now a little memory of a World War II Christmas.
Mr. JOHN HUGHES (Navy Veteran): The war broke out and I went into the Navy. One of the interesting things about it was Christmas week and we were two days out of Pearl and the announcement came over the sound system for all personnel not on duty to report down to the hangar deck. Of course this is below the flight deck. And we did. And the morale officer had us singing Christmas carols. There was hundreds of us down there. And then when that was over, the elevator that takes the airplanes up and down came down with a fully decorated Christmas tree and a Santa Claus. And everybody got a gift, a razor, a harmonica or something like that. It's a Christmas I'll never forget. CHADWICK: The memories of Navy veteran John Hughes, captured by producer Sydney Lewis and comes to us by the "Hearing Voices" radio project. This is DAY TO DAY from NPR News.
