1965: Girls wanted Santa to bring daddy home from Vietnam

Here are more letters to Santa published in the Progress in 1967. Next up is quite a list.

“Dear Santa, I am Greg Wendland and this is what I would like. Walkie-Talkie, football, bow and arrows, a play 8 MM movie projector, Pro-League Action Basketball, Koo Koo Choo Choo, ball toss, snorkel-rescue, Johnny Astro Jungle Target, Lift Off, Johnny Eagle Lieutenant set.”

Randy McCaulley had some assistance with his. “Dear Santa, Can I have a yacht and a Rolls Royce. I’ve been good this year. Also would like a WaWa doll with pink panties. P.S. My sister helped me.”

And then came the Walker sisters with the most poignant letter of all. “Dear Santa, My sister Beth and I would like to have a cowgirls suit and guns and boots and a baby bed with a blanket. I want a Baby Tubsy Doll and my sister wants a Baby Drowsy Doll. I want some to those bugs you can eat too. We want a talking telephone. I want a Santa Claus record. I love you Santa. Beth Walker, 3, Kay Walker, 4. P.S. If you go to Vietnam first, bring our daddy home in your sled. My grandma wrote this for me.”

75 years ago Dec. 31, 1942

Twenty Senior students at the high school have volunteered for training as observers and “spotters” of enemy aircraft in O’Fallon Township. The volunteers were approved by Deputy Sheriff John E. Tiley, who is chief observer of the township. The group of students will begin training under the direction of an army officer shortly after the holidays.

50 years ago Dec. 28, 1967

The weekly Broadcaster circulated at Scott Air Force Base will be printed in the publishing plant of the O’Fallon Progress beginning March 29. The paper has been in existence about 25 years and its name will be changed to one more appropriate to the activities of the base. (The name chosen was Command Post and it is still published today.)

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 8:06 AM with the headline "1965: Girls wanted Santa to bring daddy home from Vietnam."