My mother always said that December 24–25, 1944 was her “Christmas with the boys.” As a child, I never understood this. It wasn’t until much later that I discovered she was referring to the soldiers in the XV Corps of the United States Army, initially a subordinate unit to Patton’s Third Army and later the Seventh Army. Her memories of those two days would affect her Christmases for the rest of her life. And, therefore, in ways large and small, they would also affect mine. It’s been 73 years; I’d like to tell you about them today.

In 1943 my mother joined the American Red Cross and was sent to France as part of World War II’s Red Cross Clubmobile Service program. Driving refurbished 2.5-ton GMC trucks that had been converted into makeshift kitchens/lounges/first-aid stations, she joined over 300 trained volunteers to provide food (fresh doughnuts were their specialty), medical aid, and a “connection to home” for the troops fighting in the forward areas of the European theater. Each vehicle had three girls and a mechanic; they all shared driving duties. Mom’s unit disembarked on Utah Beach in August 1944 and followed the XV Corps all the way to Germany where they remained until the end of 1945.