Untold Stories: Bing Crosby’s WWII Letters to Troops and Families

“God bless good ole Bing. You cannot imagine how much we appreciate his entertainment. A ‘White Christmas’ was his last song on our program and here’s hoping we’ll be on our way home then. He (Bing) is sure a morale builder.” —From a letter from a tank man in Gen. Patton’s army, Oct. 1944, quoted by the soldier’s sister Alice Bratt

There are so many inspiring, beautiful stories about the great heroes of American history which are scarcely ever told. One happens on them accidentally—buried in a thick, out-of-print biography, in small print on a museum sign, casually and fleetingly mentioned in an obscure educational video. America cannot return to greatness in the future if we do not truly understand the greatness of our past. That is why I am writing an article series to tell a few of these little-known but moving or illustrative “untold stories” of American greatness. Other articles in this series include how George Washington saved a slave family from being divided; the story of the first Native American Indian university graduate, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck; Abraham Lincoln with the former slaves at the “contraband camp”; heroes of Pearl Harbor and the Vietnam War; and Elijah Anderson, martyr of the Underground Railroad.

On this day (May 3), back in 1903, Harry Lillis Crosby was born. He is better known as Bing Crosby, the singer and Academy Award-winning actor whose popularity was so massive during the Golden Age of Hollywood that he was called the “Voice of America.”

The mellifluous tones of the Irish-American crooner charmed Americans for decades, and at no time was he so beloved as during the dark days of World War II. Both for the brave troops Crosby entertained overseas, and their families listening back home, Crosby was not only a singer who entertained them, but a friend who comforted and gave them hope.

It was one of Bing’s greatest appeals that, despite his wild popularity, he always seemed an everyman, the sort of man you could chat with on your porch—or write to from the front lines. And many soldiers and their families did write to Bing during the war. After Bing’s death, some of Bing’s personalized replies to these wartime correspondents came to light. These were not mere form letters, according to The UK Telegraph. Bing took the time not only to thank the men and women who wrote but to try to cheer them up and give news of loved ones he’d met while visiting troops overseas.

Before I share Bing’s letters, I would like to put in a note in vindication of his personal character. Many people now still believe the lies from Bing’s son Gary Crosby, including alleged child abuse, in a book published after his father‘s death. Both Gary’s brother and his half-siblings contradicted Gary‘s claims and insisted that Bing was a wonderful father. Gary himself later, when challenged, either denied his own claims or admitted that they were deliberately and falsely exaggerated for selling purposes. He apologized eventually to his relatives, but by then, sadly, the character assassination had been successful. You can read more here.

Private Aaron Stockton was serving with the 77th Infantry Division in the Pacific after WWII was officially over when he wrote and received a response from Bing Crosby. “Dear Aaron,” Bing wrote the soldier, “Enjoyed hearing from you, and was happy to learn that you latched on to White Christmas in your remote spot. Warmest personal regards – and with the hope that you’ll be on your way home soon. Take care of yourself. Regards, Bing Crosby.”

Private Stockton was one of many American servicemen who latched onto “White Christmas” during World War II, when the song, written by Irving Berlin and performed by Bing, became the phenomenon that still places it as the best-selling single of all time even today. In 1941, Bing replied to a message from Mrs. Philip K. Lawler, who had sent him excerpts from her husband’s letter describing the show Crosby had done for the 79th Division in France. “I’m going to keep this letter handy because it provides an exact reminder of our routine overseas, and when anyone asks me what we did, I need only to whip it out, and let them read the complete details,” Bing assured Mrs. Lawler.

Bing then lavished praise on the audience that had included Mrs. Lawler’s husband: "The audience was the greatest I ever faced — warm, receptive, eager and we left there entirely conscious that we'd just been given a rare privilege, the privilege of bringing even a small touch of home, a few laughs and some sighs to a wonderful bunch of men doing a sensational job.” He ended his letter, “Please tell your husband Hello for me when you write him.”

It was exactly that personal, affectionate touch that made Crosby’s wartime letters so memorable. As another example, Crosby found out that one soldier he met, “Bud,” was missing in action. He wrote to Bud’s relative Mrs. Bernadine Hackney that it was “most probable” Bud was a prisoner of war and, for his part, “I certainly hope that this is so.” Bing recalled his own meeting with Bud, when they had discussed a topic Bing personally loved; namely; horse racing. “[I] enjoyed [Bud’s] company very much,” Bing wrote. It was no wonder that a tank man in Patton’s army wrote Alice Bratt, who forwarded the compliment to Crosby, that Bing “sure a morale builder.” Bing’s widow Kathryn recalled her husband’s eagerness to be with the troops, “He said that the soldiers were in danger, [so] why not him?”

When Crosby starred in the iconic film “White Christmas,” his character was depicted entertaining WWII troops far from home with the classic Christmas song that still holds the title of most popular song of all time, just as Crosby had done in real life (see above). It is a poignant scene, as young men huddle on a rubble-strewn battlefield at Christmas, some of them probably soon to die in battle, while Bing tenderly sings of past holidays at home. But Bing had no need to act in that scene, because he had lived it. He had stood on many stages to sing for thousands of soldiers who listened spellbound to his every note, forgetting for just a moment that tomorrow they had to face death and a brutal enemy again.

Bing Crosby brought a little bit of joy to millions of people through his singing or his writing during the dark days of world war. It was no wonder that in 1948 he was voted “most admired man alive”. As the affectionate letters Bing sent to soldiers and families illustrate so well, Bing was not just the most popular celebrity of his time, he helped countless Americans keep hope through world war. He truly was the “Voice of America.”