The Christmas song I’ll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams) was written in 1943. It was written to honor soldiers stationed overseas during WWII. My Dad (center) and his brothers wrote similar letters when they were sent to the South Pacific.

My dad attended a USO dance on Christmas in 1942 when he was stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington State. He would eventually meet my mother at an USO event but this evening he was dancing with someone else.

At this time my Uncle Ed was attending flight school. He became a B-25 pilot who flew 60 missions in the South Pacific. My Uncle Fran spent his Christmas writing poetry in Guadacanal. He spent one more Christmas away from home in 1943 before being killed in the invasion of Peleliu.

We have troops stationed all over the globe. Many if not all of them will not be coming home for Christmas.