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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow a typo in an ad led to a US Christmas tradition
https://www.history.com/news/the-wrong-number-that-launched-the-santa-trackerAnxious that the caller might be the president or a four-star general warning of an atomic attack on the United States, Shoup steeled himself as he answered the hotline that was directly wired from his command post in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to the Pentagon.
Yes, sir, this is Colonel Shoup, he answered in his finest military cadence. Met with only silence, he repeated, Sir, this is Colonel Shoup. Still nothing. Sir, can you read me alright? Shoup asked before he received a most unexpected reply from the soft voice of a child.
Are you really Santa Claus?
bigtree
(86,015 posts)...thanks for posting.
Tetrachloride
(7,896 posts)Hekate
(90,978 posts)I got a kick out of NORADs Santa-tracking on our B/W tv I thought it was just something that grownups were doing for us kids, and I was right. I just had no idea how it came to be.
hlthe2b
(102,495 posts)eternal "wait" on Christmas Eve.
Very nice bit of serendipity.
calimary
(81,565 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,892 posts)William Seger
(10,791 posts)... they had such sophisticated imaging technology back then!
William Seger
(10,791 posts)Very cool.
niyad
(113,776 posts)Used to get a kick out of the CS local stations doing updates on the big guy's location. For one night in the year, it made living next to NORAD a bit less stressful.
ZonkerHarris
(24,286 posts)ZZenith
(4,133 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(22,490 posts)edhopper
(33,652 posts)it's a story about the people in uniform. We need to not confuse the two.
ZonkerHarris
(24,286 posts)edhopper
(33,652 posts)all people in uniform are inhuman, murderous ghouls.
ZonkerHarris
(24,286 posts)statements in the future.
Thanks for playing though.
It's been funny watching you lie about my claims.
So cute.
Like watching a toddler try to play with the big kids.
edhopper
(33,652 posts)of one officer's act of kindness 60 years ago is nothing but the MIC's propaganda.
So you are the one disregarding what the article says for your own agenda.
But, play on.
ZonkerHarris
(24,286 posts)re just a liar.
ProfessorGAC
(65,337 posts)...in an episode of the History Channel's "What History Forgot".
It's a charming story and it's great that they still get folks to volunteer to answer the phones every year.