STUTTGART, Germany -- Santa Claus is coming to town. And he has already made an early appearance around the Stuttgart, Germany area. Instead of arriving on his sleigh with his reindeer, Santa arrived flanked by U.S. Marines in dress blues on a red Army fire truck with its horns blaring.
Marines from Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe joined Santa, aka Sgt. 1st Class Roy Bowen, a supply sergeant for the European Command Headquarters Commandant’s Office, for his 10th annual visit to the Schule für Körperbehindertemade, a handicapped children's school located about fifteen minutes from the Marine Headquarters.
“One boy in a wheelchair was doing doughnuts in the snow! He was having a blast,” said CWO3 Jeffrey Matthews.
After debarking the fire truck, Santa and the Marines met and shook hands with every student.
“The kids really liked my medals, it was like I had my very own jingle bells,” said Gunnery Sgt. Katherine Scoffield, the contracting chief for MARFOREUR.
The students were able to play on the fire truck provided by the Army Garrison Stuttgart fire station. Some could climb into the drivers seat to play with the lights and sirens and Marines lifted some from their wheelchairs into the cabin.
“My favorite parts were getting to see Santa and playing on the fire truck,” said Aydin Üzüm, a student from the school.
After moving indoors, each class performed a song or skit for Santa and the Marines before getting one-on-one time with the man in the red suit. Santa spoke to the children in German, asking if they were naughty or nice this year.
“I have been good this year, I think,” claims Üzüm, who wanted video games from Santa.
The children had their pictures taken with Santa and received traditional Christmas stockings stuffed with candy and toys by the Marines.
“Being able to give back to the community means everything to me, it’s great,” said Maj. Chris Kennedy, a current operations officer at MARFOREUR.
“Some of these children you could tell really didn’t understand what was going on, but I think they felt the energy in the room,” said Sgt. Robert Hatchley, a guard force Marine with MARFOREUR.
“I have one student who doesn’t talk to anyone except his mother, and today, he talked to Santa. It was very touching,” said Ute Schametat, a teacher for the fourteen-year-old class.
“I hope we do this again,” said Hatchley, “I think they had a lot of fun, and so did I.”