Christmas 1945: The Greatest Celebration in American History

by Matthew Litt

The American spirit and the role of Christmas is examined when President Truman delcares a four day Christmas weekend for federal employees, a hiatus unique to American culture. The U.S. Military launches "Operation Magic Carpet" to get tens of thousands of GI's in Europe and Asia home for Christmas, and at home, the U.S. Army and Navy launches "Operation Santa Claus" to process those thousands of GI's for discharge in time for Christmas. With happy spirits, the veterans set out for home, clogging rail depots, bus stations and airports creating, at that time, the greatest traffic jam in the nation's history. Some of the more fortunate are driven thousands of miles home by grateful citizens demonstrating the Christmas spirit in their own unique way.

Across the nation, people crowd churches praying with gratitude for the peace in place, and reach out to wounded veterans, children who lost fathers,and neighbors who lost sons. Americans in big cities and small, participate in displays of the intrinsic love so indicative of the American spirit.

Genres: Christmas, History, Nonfiction, Book Club

220 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

Matthew Litt, a practicing attorney, is a member of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society and the Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York. A graduate of Ithaca College and the University of Connecticut School of Law, he has written numerous articles about the law and the American Federal age.

Reviews

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas 1945 was my first Christmas, thus a special day for me. I was one day old. So when I heard about this book with a title, "Christmas 1945: The Story of the Greatest Celebration in American History," I knew it was a book for me.

You probably won't be surprised to learn that this book makes no mention of my advent. Of course what made 1945 special for people other than my family was the fact that World War II had ended earlier that year, and many of the soldiers and sailors were home for Christmas for the first time in several years:

"An entire nation had prayed together for exactly the same relief, and the prayer was answered. Christmas 1945 was the fulfillment of the most ambitious collective appeal ever lifted to heaven--victory, peace, and the return of American soldiers"

The author's research for this book has apparently included reading newspapers from throughout the nation published in 1945. He has organized the various stories into chapters on various subjects and made an interesting narrative designed to foster reminiscing for those who can remember those days. For me it was learning about the world into which I was born.

The government had instituted "Operation Magic Carpet" to get all (most) of the troops home by Christmas. Some the stories in this book were about their home comings. But large numbers of military people trying to get home for Christmas all at the same time overloaded the capacity of the trains and other means of transportation. So the book had many of their stories too of being stranded in various parts of the country unable to make it home by Christmas day.

Then there were the military service personnel who were still overseas. Many of them were in countries devastated by war. Conditions weren't so good for the people living in many of the countries of Europe and Asia. Many were starving and homeless. But at least the big war was over, and the shooting had stopped. So the war survivors were able to start picking up the pieces and think about a possible future.

The book contained many cute little human interest stories. The following is one of my favorites

"Ronnie Haskvitz, an eight-year-old Minneapolis boy had a dog, a shepherd named Laddie, who died in 1942. Ronnie's parents did not have the heart to tell him that his dog had passed on, so they told him that his dog was enlisted into the Army's K-9 Corps, hoping that this would resolve Ronnie's inquiry as to the dog's whereabouts, and it worked ... until the end of the war.

At war's end, Ronnie, seeing pictures and hearing stories of K-9 Corps dogs reuniting with their owners, deduced that Laddie was on his way home. As time passed, Ronnie grew increasingly concerned about Laddie's whereabouts. His first letter to the War Department asking about his dog was intercepted by his mother before the postman could carry it away. A few weeks passed without a response, so the persistent child mailed another letter, this one without interference. When a baffled officer from nearby Fort Snelling called the Haskvitz home with apologies for his inability to find a record of the dog, Ronnie's mother explained the confusion. Empathetic to both Mrs. Haskvitz and her son, the Army sent an official correspondence to Ronnie: 'We received your letter, and after checking all the files here at this headquarters we regret to inform you that your dog died while in the service of his country We know you will feel bad about it, but you should be glad he died while doing something for the war. We extend to you our heartfelt sympathy.' "

This story was picked up by various newspapers around the country, and suddenly Ronnie was receiving numerous offers for free replacement puppies.

I noticed that there was an "Inflation Conversion Table" at the end of the book. $100 of 1945 dollars was worth $1,188.09 of 2009 dollars. That's about the same ratio of increase in my body size over that same time period.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

And interesting book looking at how the end of WWII affected communities around the US, especially during the 1945 Christmas season. In many ways it is a charming book - a collection of what happened in small-town America now that the war is over and how to celebrate Christmas even when their soldiers and sailors might not make it home for the holiday (or may never make it home). Instead many communities rallied to bring Christmas to military men and women who might not be able to get to their hometowns in time for the holiday. We both enjoyed this book and were charmed about how some communities came together to help others feel "Welcome home!"

[Richard Tolleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I ever write a book, it will be just my luck that it will come out of the printing press looking like this book. I'll explain in a bit. I ordered this book on the advice of the Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts. He gave it a glowing review in his column, and it sounded like a great holiday read. It was--but there was a printing error that left the print so tiny that I had to alternately use a magnifying glass or put the book inches from my face. They didn't do it to save paper either (which would be a fitting tribute to the paper drives of WW II). There is plenty of white space on every page. It's a printing error. Someone had ONE JOB, and couldn't be bothered to look at the books as they came off the press. I was alerted that the publisher will replace the books if they are contacted. I sent them an email, but never heard back. In any case, I recommend getting this one in the Kindle edition so as to completely avoid the tiny print nonsense. It's a wonderful book that harkens back to a time when the nation was united in celebration after 4 wartime Christmases. If you want a glimpse into what life was like immediately after WW II, pick up this well-researched book (in a digital format).

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This book is about that special Christmas when reaching out to the less fortunate, the grieving, and the wounded played a larger role than opening a present under the tree. " (from the introduction)

This was a very interesting book. I would give it a 3.5. I enjoyed the stories, but was a bit dismayed that little was mentioned about the minority groups that also served during WWII and were experiencing their first Christmas home.

[Alice Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an an excellent book about Christmas 1945.Church bells are ringing.Trains, Buses and private citizens are transporting Service members home for Christmas.All America is praising God that World War 2 is over and our soldiers are home.

[Victoria Murata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book were interesting. It felt like repetitions of the same kinds of information. It read like a magazine article that was waaaaaayyyyy too long. For me, it was tedious but I did finish it since it was for my book club.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how far we've come since 1945....and I don't say that entirely as a compliment.

[Elizabeth]

Tons of stories of the titular Christmas and a few of the war Christmases. Many of these stories would be great books in themselves... but altogether it was kind of boring to read. I would recommend a reader like me to read a chapter at a time and come back to it.