A Holiday Read-Aloud: Christmas in the Trench

Good morning, students. As you know, the holiday season is upon us and is in full swing. And so I'm here this morning to share a rate allow with you. This is a very special book for this time of year, and it's called Christmas in the trenches. Some of you may have seen this book before, but this is actually a true story about something that happened during World War I that became known as the Christmas truce. And I think it's a really interesting book for this time of year because it is about the holiday season, but this book is also about something that happens in the middle of wartime. And as you know, we have troops that are overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan and we hear about our conflict in those countries every day on the news. So this is a special book this year for two reasons. So I'm going to read this book to you and something that I want you to be thinking about as I read it is what does it take to stop war? So I want you to just think about that question as I read. What does it take to stop a war? As we read. All right, I hope you enjoy it. Christmas in the trenches. Now, this is a picture book. So what I'll do is I'll read a little bit and then I'll show you some of the pictures because it does have really nice illustrations. The presents have been opened and dinner was over. After a long walk through the snow covered fields, young Thomas toliver curled up next to his grandfather and announced. Grandpa, this was my very favorite Christmas. Do you have a favorite Christmas? Yes, Thomas, I do. I was far away from our home here in Liverpool. It was a Christmas many years ago during the first winter of the great war. You were in the war grandpa, sharp little Nora climbing onto his lap. What was it like? Were you a hero? Grandpa smiled. Let's see, he said, why don't I start at the beginning? The two children snuggled closer. It was 1914. My mates and I had been on the battlefield for many weeks. And here's the picture up close so that you can see the grandfather telling the story. And now the story goes into a flashback where the grandfather's remembering something. We were all so young, just boys, lonely and frightened, trying to be brave. We had spent a long, cold month in the muddy trenches that were now our home. We all knew that there would be no break in the fighting. We knew we would be spending Christmas in the trenches. That Christmas Eve was a night like tonight. The skies were clearing and frost covered no man's land. The field that separated us from the German soldiers. Staring out toward the enemy trenches, we waited. Between the bombs and the battles, war is mostly waiting. Waiting to see who will make the next move. That night we figured it would be the Germans, and we were right. Suddenly, a century signaled for silence. We all hushed a ghostly sound, cut through the cold night air. So you might be wondering what's going to happen. Singing, it was coming from the enemy's side of no man's land. One of the lads who knew German said, it's a Christmas Carol. He's singing right well, you know? Soon. Every German voice joined in. When we were finished, what could we do? We sang right back at them. God rest you Mary gentleman. All of us knew that one. Many of you may know that Christmas Carol sometimes you hear it on the radio. Then they sang something familiar. We couldn't understand the words. Still not, but we knew the melody. It was silent night. And suddenly, in two tongues, one song filled the night sky. I never imagined singing could seem so holy. Someone's coming toward us. They cried. As we aimed our rifles into the December darkness, we saw a most amazing sight. A single figure was coming across no man's land. In one hand he held a white truce flag. And the other, a Christmas tree, shining with candles. It was so surprising and so brave I couldn't help myself. I leaped from the trench and walked toward him. I was the first one. But soon, everyone else from both sides was out there too. It was all so new and strange. We were nervous at first. Before long though, we were trading small gifts, chocolates, tens of mate, whatever we had to share. When we began showing each other, photographs from home, we were no longer soldiers, no longer enemies. We were all just sons and fathers, far away from our families and loved ones. Our lad Sanders brought out his squeeze box. One of their boys joined in on a nice violin. And some one had a ball. You can see what happens here. Isn't that interesting that these soldiers could forget about their conflict? Because of something as simple as a song. So be thinking about that question I asked, what does it take to start a war? It was quite a Christmas party we had, but all too soon the dawn reminded us that it was time to get back to our own sides. Back to the trenches. Back to the waiting. Wondering what had just happened to us, and wondering what the next move should be. That is my favorite memory, that Christmas in the trenches. I'm a different man today because of the boy I was that night. Grandpa hugged the children tighter. Was I hero? For just one night. Yes. We were all heroes. There's the grandfather. And there's a an illustration of the grandfather during that night of the Christmas truce. And that's the end of the story. And I think that this is a very special story because as I said, this is a true story, and it's something that did happen, and it unofficially became known as the Christmas truce. And it just shows how something so simple, like a song, can bring even two sides of armies together that are in conflict. So it just makes you think about what's important, especially at this time of year. So that question that I asked you, what does it take to stop a war? I want you to be thinking about that. What do you think that this book shows that it takes in order to stop a war? So I hope that you enjoyed the read aloud this morning and I hope that all of you have a very happy and safe holiday and I hope that we all are able to remember the real reason for this season. Happy holidays everybody.