Harry Wesley Shoup (1917 - 2009)

Ancestors

Contents 1 Biography 2 The Colonel who Saved Christmas 2.1 Census 3 Sources

Biography

Harry Shoup

The Colonel who Saved Christmas

Soldier's Medal.

Harry was the eldest of 4 children born to Archie and Emma in Bessemer, Lawrence, Pennsylvania. June and Archie jr. followed him along with his youngest brother Leonard who died in infancy. He went Westminster College, in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania^[1]. While there he met Louise Lane. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1940, he and Louise married on February 8,1941^[2] in Montgomery, Alabama. While serving in the Air force, he received the Soldier's Medal for saving another airman's life. Harry served in WWII, and had a illustrious career in the US Air Force, for 28 years.

Sears department store ad christmas 1955

In 1955, Harry Shoup was working for the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) which was based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This was the predecessor for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). ^[3]That year at christmas, a Sears ^[4]department store placed an ad in a Colorado Springs newspaper. It showed a picture of Santa telling children to Call me on my private phone and I will talk to you personally any time day or night. ^[5] The phone number in the ad was printed incorrectly, the phone number was a top secret line to CONAD the Continental Air Defense Command.

Friday December 20, 1963

Colonel Shoup, knew when the red hot line phone rang, it was either the Pentagon or the general in charge on the other end.

^[6]He always answered the phone with, Yes Sir. This time was different, the voice he heard in December 1955, was a little girl asking him ^[7]Are you Santa Claus?.He looked around the room to see if any one was playing a joke on him but soon realized they were not. Colonel Harry Shoup said to the little girl, Yes, I am. Have you been a good little girl?. Colonel Harry Shoup, received phone calls all that day from boys and girls , wanting to talk to Santa. Instead of telling the children they had the wrong number, Harry Shoup, asked his staff to give the children updates on the progress of Santa on Christmas Eve. His own children Judith, Pamela, Terri and Richard recall fond memories of their father "The Santa Colonel" ^[8]

December 10, 1986.

NORAD still ^[9]tracks Santa on ^[10]Christmas eve. Today volunteers, including NORAD military and civilian personnel, receive more than 12,000 e-mails and over 70,000 telephone calls, from more than two hundred countries and territories. Mainly from 2 a.m. on December 24 until 3 a.m. on December 25th.

I have ^[11] the greatest admiration for Col. Shoup and found delight in his remarkable humor with taking the first-ever call regarding Santa’s whereabouts back in 1955. His kind and thoughtful gesture will forever be a legacy at NORAD, and with the millions of people around the world who follow the NORAD Tracks Santa program each year. Truly, forever in the minds of millions he will be fondly remembered as the "Santa Colonel" and his legend will live on forever.

Retired General Victor E. Renaurt, Jr., USAF ,Former Commander, NORAD,Former Commander, USNORTHCOM

Col Shoup was 92 years of age at his passing^[12] and is buried in the Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, Denver County, Colorado, USA^[13] Plot: Area C

His career in the US Air Force spanned 28 years from June 6, 1940 to September 1 1968^[14]

Census

1920 Bessemer, Lawrence, Pennsylvania, USA^[15]

1930 Bessemer, Lawrence, Pennsylvania, USA^[16]

1940 Bessemer, Lawrence, Pennsylvania, USA^[17]

Sources

1. ↑ Class of 1939 Argo, U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
2. ↑ "Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKMB-HTN2 : accessed 30 November 2015), Harry Wesley Shoup and Anna Louise Lane, 1941.
3. ↑ Snopes.com - Track Meet
4. ↑ Chicago Tribune.com - How NORAD's Santa Tracker began: A Sears ad misprint
5. ↑ Wptschedule.org - The Colonel who Saved Christmas
6. ↑ Smithsonian.com - How the North American Aerospace Defense Command Got Into the Business of Tracking Santa It all began in 1955 with Sears, a wrong number and a very confused Colonel
7. ↑ Mentalflos.com - Why Did NORAD Start Tracking Santa?
8. ↑ NPR.org - Norads Santa Tracker began with a typo and a good sport
9. ↑ Wikipedia - NORAD Tracks Santa
10. ↑ Cnet.com - Behind the scenes: NORAD's Santa tracker
11. ↑ Noradsanta.wiki.com - In Memory of Colonel (Retired) Harry Shoup, USAF
12. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQMK-3MV : accessed 30 November 2015), Harry W Shoup, 14 Mar 2009; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
13. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #35296199
14. ↑ U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
15. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M613-7SR : accessed 30 November 2015), Harry W Shoup in household of Archie A Shoup, Bessemer, Lawrence, Pennsylvania, United States; citing sheet 7B, family 118, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,821,585.
16. ↑ "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHQC-CYM : accessed 30 November 2015), Harry W Shogren in entry for Archie Shogren, 1930.
17. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQDD-XW9 : accessed 30 November 2015), Harry Shaup in household of Archie Shaup, Bessemer Borough, Lawrence, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 37-1, sheet 4B, family 73, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 3536.

See also

• NORAD - Tracks Santa Primer History part 1
• NORAD - Tracks Santa Website part 2
• Tumbir.com - Colonel Harry Shoup
• NORAD-NORAD Tracks Santa