Action (May 1941 - Mar 1958)

J. B. CODD 20TH CENTURY FOX STUDIO BOX 900 BEVERLY HI LIS, CALIF. Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, Los Angeles, Calif., under Act of March 3, 1879. A LETTER TO THE BOYS Dear Boys: We have received so many wonderful letters from you during the past year — some we have printed in the pages of "Action" and some we have not, but we have enjoyed and appreciated them all, and now we think we will write one big letter to all of you. At this particular time of the year, it is customary to send the season’s greetings, and it would be very simple for us to say "Merry Christmas", but we want a little more of the spirit of the season to be in that expression. That all-encompassing feeling that overcomes one at this time of the year, that we usually interpret as the Christmas Spirit, has a special significance for us when we think of you. For many of you it will be your first Christmas away from home, others have experienced two and some three lonely Yuletides, but whether it is your first or third, we hope it will be your last of separation and loneliness. You may think it is cruel or difficult to go back in memory over many happy holiday seasons spent in the midst of your family or friends, in familiar places that because of their very familiarity seemed at the time insignificant and ordinary. The things you did — the gifts you planned and bought — selecting a tree and decorating it — the wonderful holiday table, overburdened with goodness and plenty — the happy wassailing cup — the mistletoe and the holly. All these things that now seem so dear and bring back such poignant memories will later have their separate place in your mind and the Christmases you have spent away from home will in retrospect have their nostalgic memories too. All these things — the pleasant ones — we put in a special storeroom of our minds to draw upon in reverie. These are the good things, the things we have to cherish, the things that keep us going when the going is tough. We here at home will bring out the same old Christmas ornaments, hang up our stockings, light the Christmas candles, and drink the same old toast. It will be hard for us without your help, your presence and cheer, doubly hard for your absence, but unless we do these things we will be destroying the thing you are keeping alive in your minds. We all need those memories. And so we say "MERRY XMAS" to all our dear boys away from home, and despite our separation now, we know there will be many, many more wonderful Christmases that will cast their shadows of memories down through the years. Sincerely, The Editors