It’s the Late Crew Christmas Episode! This time, history doesn’t take the holiday off. We start in 1776, when Washington made Christmas a night for river ice, surprise attacks, and nation-bending decisions while crossing the Delaware on December 25th (06:29). Then we jump to Korea in 1950, where the SS Meredith evacuation turned into a Christmas Eve miracle, rescuing 14,000 refugees in freezing seas without a single casualty (14:18). From there, we hit 1944 for one of the strangest Christmas Eves of WWII, when a German teen named Fritz Vincken hosted a ceasefire dinner between U.S. soldiers and a Wehrmacht patrol in a snow-locked cabin on December 24th (26:17). Finally, we look to the skies for the longest-running holiday operation in military history, Operation Christmas Drop, delivering aid across the Pacific since 1952, and still flying today with C-130s, parachutes, and pure holiday goodwill (37:28). Four stories. Four Christmas Eves/Days. One episode packed with courage, miracles, odd alliances, and the true spirit of service. Grab some cocoa and strap in, this sleigh is a C-130. https://lateforchangeover.com/

Today the Late Crew talks about the US Space Force unveiling its new naming system for satellites and space weapons (06:26), how the Space Force issued smartwatch saved an Airman’s life (18:26), the Air Force relieves commander of security squadron at FE Warren Air Force Base (26:07), and for Unheralded History we talk about Blimp aircraft carriers (36:28), Operation Paperclip (41:02), and Project Eldest Son (46:14). https://lateforchangeover.com/

Here’s a festive-to-classified mashup for your latest Late For Changeover soirée: Jingle bells meet jet engines as Santa lights up the NORAD radar screen for the 70th year, proving even Saint Nick needs aerospace surveillance (07:25). A Coast Guard chopper in Puerto Rico spirals into a merry “Ho Ho Ho” holding pattern, cheerleading holiday spirits over warm Caribbean waves (14:42). Then the sleigh suddenly dives into the classified archives. The Alsos Mission of 1943 hunted Nazi nuclear secrets like a Christmas scavenger hunt in occupied Europe (26:56). Project Pluto’s atomic-powered SLAM missile promised a doomsday stocking stuffer capable of circling the globe with apocalyptic endurance (34:33). And over the stormy skies of Vietnam, Operation Popeye tried to weaponize the weather itself, coaxing rain to bog down enemy supply lines (41:08). From candy canes on radar scopes to Cold War nightmare tech, this episode unwraps the strange stocking where holiday cheer and military history keep bumping elbows like elves undercover in a classified hangar. 🎅🛰️✨ https://lateforchangeover.com/