Christmas Day 1944

On Christmas Eve, 1944, a young sailor at the age of 21 was resting in his bunk on his Coast Guard Cutter docked in the harbor of Cherbourg, France. By then the terrible thoughts and sights of the Normandy Invasion may have finally started to dissipate, just a little. For his thoughts were on his young bride and returning to the home of the brave, good old USA.

A little after midnight the ship’s alarms rang!!!

The Belgium troopship, Leopoldville, left the pier at Southampton, England, on Christmas Eve, with over 2,000 American soldiers assigned to the 66th Infantry Division and crossed the English Channel to France in response to the last gasp of the Nazi horde, the Battle of the Bulge. She was just 5 1/2 miles from her destination, Cherbourg, France when the Leopoldville was torpedoed by the German submarine U-486.

The sailor’s Coast Guard Cutter raced to the Leopoldville’s last known position not knowing what to expect to find. What crew found was shear horror, chaos and terror, with thousands of the US Army’s best struggling in the frigid waters of the Atlantic. Many were severely injured and without life vests or life boats.

What this man remembers the most is the Spirit of Humanity found in this zone of death.

“Help my buddy, I am alright,” he heard. After all, how do you choose who gets saved first?

And after saving the Army lad’s friend, the Young Sailor returns and finds that the other soldier has silently slipped below the surface…. But he goes on to the next and the next, etc. until the ship can’t take on more and they race to port then the process repeats until day break, Christmas Day, 1944.

There were 763 American soldiers killed and the bodies of 493 were never recovered from the Channel’s frigid 48-degree waters. May their souls rest in peace at their eternal home. But there were over 750 soldiers who were given the gift of a second chance at life and soon returned home to the USA, on Christmas Day, 1944.

This 102 year-old sailor, a true hero and man of God, offers you his gift of peace on

Christmas Eve 2025.

May God Bless Robert Edward Stoops