The Christmas Truce
by David G. Stratman
by David G. Stratman
From his
book We Can Change the World
It (be) (1)___________________
December 25, 1914, only 5 months into World War I. German, British, and French
soldiers, already sick and tired of the senseless killing, (disobey)
(2)___________________ their superiors and fraternized with "the
enemy" along two-thirds of the Western Front (a crime punishable by death
in times of war). German troops (hold) (3)___________________ Christmas trees
up out of the trenches with signs, "Merry Christmas."
"You no shoot, we no
shoot." Thousands of troops (stream) (4)___________________ across a
no-man's land strewn with rotting corpses. They (sing) (5)___________________
Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, (share)
(6)___________________ rations, played football, even roasted some pigs.
Soldiers embraced men they (try) (7)___________________ to kill a few short
hours before. They (agree) (8)___________________ to warn each other if the top
brass forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high.
A shudder (run)
(9)___________________ through the high command on either side. Here was
disaster in the making: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other
and refusing to fight. Generals on both sides (declare) (10)___________________
this spontaneous peace-making to be treasonous and subject to court martial. By
March 1915 the fraternization movement (eradicate) (11)___________________ and
the killing machine put back in full operation. By the time of the armistice in
1918, fifteen million would be slaughtered.
Not many people (hear)
(12)___________________ the story of the Christmas Truce. On Christmas Day,
1988, a story in the Boston Globe (mention) (13)___________________ that a
local FM radio host played "Christmas in the Trenches," a ballad
about the Christmas Truce, several times and was startled by the effect. The
song (become) (14)___________________ the most requested recording during the
holidays in Boston on several FM stations. "Even more startling than the
number of requests I (get) (15)___________________ is the reaction to the
ballad afterward by callers who (not/hear) (16)___________________ it
before," said the radio host. "They telephone me deeply moved,
sometimes in tears, asking, 'What the hell did I just hear?' "
You can probably guess why the
callers (be) (17)___________________ in tears. The Christmas Truce story (go)
(18)___________________ against most of what we have been taught about people.
It (give) (19)___________________ us a glimpse of the world as we wish it could
be and says, "This really happened once." It reminds us of those
thoughts we (keep) (20)___________________ hidden away, out of range of the TV
and newspaper stories that tell us how trivial and mean human life (be)
(21)___________________. It is like hearing that our deepest wishes really (be)
(22)___________________ true: the world really could be different.
Story retrieved from: http://www.wanttoknow.info/i/christmas-stories/inspirational-christmas-story
Posts
