{"id":1150492,"date":"2021-12-24T13:05:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T18:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1150492"},"modified":"2021-12-24T13:06:08","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T18:06:08","slug":"the-santa-colonel-how-one-air-force-officer-turned-a-sears-ad-typo-into-a-holiday-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-santa-colonel-how-one-air-force-officer-turned-a-sears-ad-typo-into-a-holiday-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Santa Colonel\u2019: How One Air Force Officer Turned A Sears Ad Typo Into A Holiday Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-santa-colonel-how-one-air-force-officer-turned-a-sears-ad-typo-into-a-holiday-tradition%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1150492&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In 1955, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup had a very important job. It was the height of the Cold War, and Shoup was working at the Continental Air Defense Command \u2014 now known as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).<\/p>\n<p>One December day, his phone rang, but it wasn\u2019t his regular phone. It was the red phone \u2014 the phone that had a <a href=\"https:\/\/kdvr.com\/news\/local\/wrong-number-started-norad-santa-tracker\/\">number so secret<\/a> that only he and a four-star general at the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailywire.com\/news\/disney-hires-obama-era-pentagon-spokesperson-to-build-on-companys-strong-reputation\/\">Pentagon<\/a> knew of its existence. But when he answered the phone, a child was on the other end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs this Santa Claus?\u201d the child asked. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coloradoan.com\/story\/life\/2018\/12\/21\/santa-tracker-creator-norad-colonel-christmas\/2369617002\/\">Shoup<\/a>, according to his children \u2014 Terri Van Keuren, Rick Shoup, Pam Farrel \u2014 was initially surprised and annoyed, but when the child began to cry he quickly changed his tone. He said, \u201cHo, ho, ho,\u201d and asked the child whether he had been good \u2014 and then he asked to speak to a parent.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2014\/12\/19\/371647099\/norads-santa-tracker-began-with-a-typo-and-a-good-sport\">NPR reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><em>His children remember Shoup as straight-laced and disciplined, and he was annoyed and upset by the call and thought it was a joke \u2014 but then, Terri says, the little voice started crying.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAnd Dad realized that it wasn\u2019t a joke,\u201d her sister says. \u201cSo he talked to him, ho-ho-ho\u2019d and asked if he had been a good boy and, \u2018May I talk to your mother?\u2019 And the mother got on and said, \u2018You haven\u2019t seen the paper yet? There\u2019s a phone number to call Santa. It\u2019s in the Sears ad.\u2019 Dad looked it up, and there it was, his red phone number. And they had children calling one after another, so he put a couple of airmen on the phones to act like Santa Claus.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt got to be a big joke at the command center. You know, \u2018The old man\u2019s really flipped his lid this time. We\u2019re answering Santa calls,\u2019 \u201d Terri says.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The joke took another turn when, on Christmas Eve of 1955, several of the Airmen under Shoup\u2019s command drew a sleigh and eight reindeer on the glass board that they normally used to track the paths of airplanes over U.S. and Canadian airspace.<\/p>\n<p>According to Terri, Shoup saw the drawing and asked, \u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The airmen said it was just a joke, apologizing and offering to take it down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad looked at it for a while, and next thing you know, Dad had called the radio station and had said, \u2018This is the commander at the Combat Alert Center, and we have an unidentified flying object. Why, it looks like a sleigh.\u2019 Well, the radio stations would call him like every hour and say, \u2018Where\u2019s Santa now?&#8217;\u201d Terri told NPR, adding, \u201cAnd later in life he got letters from all over the world, people saying, \u2018Thank you, Colonel,\u2019 for having, you know, this sense of humor. And in his 90s, he would carry those letters around with him in a briefcase that had a lock on it like it was top-secret information. You know, he was an important guy, but this is the thing he\u2019s known for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s probably the thing he was proudest of, too,\u201d her brother agreed.<\/p>\n<p>In the years since, NORAD has embraced the tradition. Call centers are operational and children can call from all over the world to see where Santa is as he makes his grand journey delivering gifts around the world in a single night.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">To get updates on Santa\u2019s location, call our 500+ volunteers waiting at 1-877-Hi-NORAD or visit <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NgHFVneAui\">https:\/\/t.co\/NgHFVneAui<\/a>! You can even ask <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amazon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@amazon<\/a> Alexa or push the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OnStar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@OnStar<\/a> button to track his journey! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NORADTracksSanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NORADTracksSanta<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/x1i6qGdpGM\">pic.twitter.com\/x1i6qGdpGM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NoradSanta\/status\/1474326499633381385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There is even an official Twitter account \u2014 @NoradSanta \u2014 that posts updates and videos throughout the day.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Santa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Santa<\/a> has had a smooth flight so far. His sleigh has just been spotted over the Taj Mahal! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NORADTracksSanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NORADTracksSanta<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Sg92KCHsqX\">https:\/\/t.co\/Sg92KCHsqX<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kbUWQAoTdV\">pic.twitter.com\/kbUWQAoTdV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NoradSanta\/status\/1474423389498576907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">NORAD is tracking Santa in the skies of Shanghai, China!<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Jti9jjZTE9\">https:\/\/t.co\/Jti9jjZTE9<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ptwbwrhdmA\">pic.twitter.com\/ptwbwrhdmA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NoradSanta\/status\/1474389434913234967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Santa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Santa<\/a> has been flying around Mt. Fuji, heading northeast to Tokyo!<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Yvsx0FV9Je\">https:\/\/t.co\/Yvsx0FV9Je<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bLvbeo3Plf\">pic.twitter.com\/bLvbeo3Plf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NoradSanta\/status\/1474380677730680840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Santa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Santa<\/a> has been spotted over Sydney, Australia and the famous Sydney Opera House!<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/27R5ziwnKK\">https:\/\/t.co\/27R5ziwnKK<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FOcmNxea1A\">pic.twitter.com\/FOcmNxea1A<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NoradSanta\/status\/1474373056839749639?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1955, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup had a very important job. It was the height of the Cold War, and Shoup was working at the Continental Air Defense Command \u2014 now known as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). One December day, his phone rang, but it wasn\u2019t his regular phone. It was &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1150492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1150492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1150492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1150492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1150492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}