The American St. Nick

by Peter Lion

Book Overview

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1886249083
• ISBN13: 9781886249080
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Windriver Publishing (ID)
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Wartime Christmas in Luxembourg

This well written account by Peter Lion will touch your heart as you follow the story of GI's in Luxembourg in 1944 and a Christmas to remember. They donate their packages from home and Corporal Brookins plays the part of St. Nick. The people of Luxembourg remember this act of kindness on the part of our soldiers because it is still celebrated today as year after year the story is reenacted in the small town of Wiltz with our GI's as the honored guests. The book is well written and will give you a glimpse of the compassionate side of a terrible war.

it really happened (and it still happens)

I come from the town in question and beeing a child I once recieved my candy from the American St. Nick. (It was one of the years he had come back to play his role again.) I can remember that we children make fun of the way he tried to speak to us in luxembourgish. But what I didn't realise by then was the whole story behind it; I knew it was something special about it but I couldn't explain why. Now after having grown up and after having read the book I know that what they did was something very special.

In a word...WOW

It's a great, easy read AND it's true! When you see what these guys went through and what they did as a wonderful act of kindness you can't help but be moved. I challenge anyone to read this story and not be at the very least a bit misty-eyed when you're done. And the photos that are in the book are amazing. Obviously well researched. Why Hollywood hasn't latched onto this story yet is a real mystery. This one has "all the makings"!

WWII GI Gift

In this time, when our Veterans from World War II are realizing how much we all need to hear their stories, THE AMERICAN ST. NICK is a heart-warming one grandfathers can share with their grandchildren, helping them to see that behind the face of the Warrior beats a father's heart. No matter that the young men thought what they were doing was just a lark. Rebeccasreads highly recommends THE AMERICAN ST. NICK as a fine recollection of one shining moment in a dark horrendous conflict that glows like a child's grin. It is a tale, simply told, of bringing joy to some needy children & their community. It is also the story of how one town never forgot the GIs who gave of their bounty, & by doing so resurrected the Spirit of Christmas for a devastated people. Nor have they forgetten those GIs who gave their lives & never went home.

The kind of story you want to climb into

Fellow WindRiver author Peter Lion brings new light to a tiny flicker of joy in the darkest moments of World War II and tells the tale of a holiday tradition that lives into the 21st Century. In December of 1944, American soldiers from the 28th Infantry Division were stationed in the village of Wiltz, Luxembourg. Two members of the Signal Corps, knowing they wouldn't be home for Christmas, decided that the next best thing would be to celebrate the holidays in Wiltz. With gifts and treats donated by soldiers from the 28th, they gave the town's children a full-blown St. Nicolas Day party on December 6th, complete with a visit from the beloved Saint (an American soldier dressed in cleric's vestments and a bishop's miter). After the war, many of the participants put aside the memories of that day along with the horrors of the war but the people of Wiltz never forgot. Every year, they observe December 6 as both St. Nicolas Day and the anniversary of the visit from the American St. Nick with one of the locals recreating the part of the American Signal Corpsman. Through a series of chance turns-of-events, the first American St. Nicolas is tracked down and over thirty years later, he returns to Wiltz on St. Nicolas Day. Filling the inevitable gaps in memory with vivid fiction, Peter Lion's story leaps from the page with a vitality that transports the reader through time and distance into the streets of Wiltz in 1944. The two photo sections are filled with the type of pictures one lingers over. There's material here for a feature film or a perennial holiday TV movie. Let's hope some studio folks with good sense have read "The American St. Nick".