For some strange reason, one of my favorite Christmas songs is "Snoopy's Christmas" by the Royal Guardsmen. The song tells of the story where the Red Baron is about to shoot Snoopy down. The Red Baron motions for Snoopy to land behind enemy lines. When Snoopy lands, he and the Red Baron share a toast in honor of Christmas as the bells in the surrounding villages ring. At the end of their meeting, the wish each other a Merry Christmas and depart knowing they will likely see each other again under different circumstances.
While the song is fictional, the theme of the song is not. I just finished watching the movie "Joyeux Noel". The movie is about the World War I Christmas cease fire that takes place among French, Scottish and German regiments in 1914. When a German soldier that happens to be a famous tenor sings "Stille Nacht", the Scottish soldiers join in with their bagpipes. The French troops applaud. The German singer brings a Christmas tree and places it in the middle of "no man's land", the area between the three regiments. Nobody shoots him. The leaders of each of the regiments cautiosly walk out to meet with each other. They declare a cease fire for Christmas. All of the troops then enter "no man's land" and enjoy striking up friendships with their "enemies". I won't give away more of the story. There are some surprising twists. I would highly recommend renting the movie. It is based on a true story. If you rent the movie, make sure to watch the interview with the director that is included as a special feature.
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