Page 8                                                                     The Megaphone                                                    December 2000

  The snow was at least 2 - 3 feet deep and the temperature way below zero. The little one room hut had a fire burning in the stove, thus heating the hut somewhat.  One had to be very careful about the smoke and the windows had to be taped shut, so that no light was visible from the outside.  The hut was in the Ardennes Forest on the German side, but you see, there was a big war going on and there was a blackout. This meant that not a sliver of light was to be visible to the enemy. They could easily bomb the hut if it was located by any visible light.  The forest helped the invisibility some, but mother was always admonishing the 3 children to be careful about the light and only a small candle was used to give the little light needed.
     

  Mother had a large pot on the stove with very little in it for making soup. Food was very scarce and sometimes it was not available at all.  The children had cut a small Christmas tree and were making a few meager decorations while singing "Silent Night" very quietly among themselves. You see, it was Christmas eve and excitement was in the air.  The children knew there were going to be no presents, but there was soup and the Christ child had a birthday. The mother was smiling as she watched her children decorating and singing.  Their father was on the Russian front...he was a soldier.
     

  All of a sudden the tranquility of the room was disturbed by a light knock. The mother went to the door and as she opened it her heart began to beat faster and fear replaced the tranquility. Three American soldiers stood outside the hut and asked if they could come in and warm up.  The mother did not understand English, but soon saw that one of the soldiers was wounded and so she opened the door and motioned for them to come in.
   

  This is the enemy she thought, but a human being is hurt and needs help. She put a bit more water into the soup, had the wounded man lay down on the bed and looked after the wound. The other soldiers attempted to talk with the children, but all ended up singing 'Silent Night", in German and in English.  The mother was just going to call everyone to the table when another knock came. Everyone looked at one another and the Americans went for their rifles.  As the mother opened the door and the Americans hid behind it and all were afraid of the unknown.  Outside the hut stood 4 German soldiers asking to come in and warm up.  The mother only hesitated for one second and then asked the German soldiers for their weapons to be left outside and told them to come in.
   

  The American soldiers put their weapons against the wall and with fear in their eyes waited to see what the German soldiers were going to do. The German soldiers were very surprised, to say the least, when they saw three American soldiers inside the hut.
   

  The mother and children started to sing Christmas songs and soon all the soldiers joined in. She put a bit more water in the pot and soon everyone ate and warmed up.  All the soldiers, both American and German, found a few candy bars for the children and a few food rations for the family.

  Then it was time to leave. All the soldiers went outside, picked up their weapons, shook hands and went in opposite directions to finish fighting the war.
    

  For a short time during this terrible war, sanity was restored and people were just God's children.

Written by Kay Van Den Hark...a true story and humbly submitted by:

Julie (Stout) Duffitt '57
Yuma, AZ