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Posted on 12/24/2018 3:18:29 PM PST by LouieFisk
It was not a place of fun and games. And when that red phone rang — it was wired directly to a four-star general at the Pentagon — things got real. All eyes would have been on Shoup when he answered. “Col. Shoup,” he barked. But there was silence. Until finally, a small voice said, “Is this Santa Claus?”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
At least it wasn’t the W.O.P.R. from War Games...Joshua? Joshua?
“You’re not supposed to be running in here, someone could get hurt!”
:D
“Shall we play a game?”
“Wouldn’t you prefer a good game of chess?”
“No! Global Thermonuclear War.”
“Fine.”
“God speed, Santa Colonel!”
—
Indeed. He was a good soul, serving above and beyond.
Heh. Good thing the kid got through to this good man and his thoughtful spirit. If he had ended up getting a DI Emery-type on the line, the kid could have have ended up crying while eating a candy cane as his siblings did pushups!
After that, he looked forward to getting the media calls each December, even carrying special business cards with the story typed on the back. He was buried at 91 in 2009 with a flyover of F-16 fighters, under a gravestone that notes his service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The last line reads: “Santa Colonel.”
“I want his message to be ‘Do the nice thing,’ ” said Van Keuren. “A lot of people would have hung up on that kid.”
B-47 (maybe B-58) cockpit.
Ping
Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I’ve come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks.
The number provided, ME 2-6681, went right to one of the most secure phones in the country.
“They were off by one digit,” said Van Keuren. “It was a typo.”
When Shoup hung up, the phone rang again. He ordered his staff to answer each Santa call while he got on the (black) phone with AT&T to set up a new link to Washington. Let Sears have the old number, he told them.
I had always heard that this was a myth, but with the WaPo fact checkers on the job, I am (slightly) reassured.
“Would you like to play a game?”
Yeah, it sounds believable. I’ve received some really wrong numbers and dialed a few in my day, so I know sometimes you never know who will answer.
Caller ID ruined some of that, though, you can see who’s calling . Especially ruined making Bart Simpson-esque prank calls. Not that I ever did that back in the day, heheheheh....
“Jeez, they could have waited until he, you know, died fer cryin’ out loud. Sad.”
—
:D
-”We buried my cousin last week”
-”Oh, really?”
- “Had to - dead, y’know.”
“Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I’ve come to the conclusion that your new defense system sucks.”
—
A perfect role for the great Barry Corbin.
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