Santa and Mrs. Claus Use Military Cargo Plane to Spread Holiday Cheer in Remote Alaska Village

This holiday season, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus brought holiday cheer to the remote Tlingit town of Yakutat in southeast Alaska. They got there in style, in a camouflaged Humvee and a C-17 military cargo plane. Their visit was part of Operation Santa Claus, an outreach program run by the Alaska National Guard to help Native American villages across the state that are often left alone.

Every year, the Guard chooses a town that has been through a lot recently. In the case of Yakutat, the visit came after a terrible snowstorm in 2022 that did a lot of damage. The Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard, Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe said, "This is one of the fun things we get to do, and this is a proud moment for the National Guard."

When the Humvee pulled up, a group of excited elementary school kids ran outside and chanted, "It's Santa!" "It's Santa!" Claus read a holiday story to the 75 children inside the school, and the two of them posed for pictures with almost all of them. They also gave out backpacks full of gifts, snacks, books, and school supplies. The Salvation Army kindly helped pay for the gifts and capped off the fun, and a nearby restaurant served a sundae bar.

Kids' 10-year-old Thomas Henry loved his new backpack, but he said his favorite present was a toy dinosaur. At the same time, Mackenzie Ross, 9, was delighted with her new plush seal toy. It was exceptional for her to be here today because she had never been in a situation like this before.

Operation Santa Claus started in 1956 after a flood in St. Mary's, Alaska, affected the people who lived there. It has continued to bring holiday cheer to towns that need it. This year's schedule also included stops in Circle, Alaska, and Crooked Creek, where gifts were brought early because the visit had to be canceled because of bad weather.

The C-17 quickly flew back to Anchorage after the successful visit because Yakutat's small airport couldn't handle the enormous plane. Santa and Mrs. Claus were seen resting on the way back, tired from their holiday mission but happy that they had made the lives of children in one of Alaska's most remote towns more fun.

‍