It was a beautiful Christmas wedding simple but elegant with red poinsettias. The day was cold and there was lots of snow. Our car broke down the day before, so my cousin Marie loaned us her car.

Sam was in the Air Force at Minot Air Force Base. He had moved from Homestead AFB, Florida, in January 1961. He was an aircraft mechanic for the B-52s. The fleet of B-52s would be arriving in June 1961.

(We were) in Minot for four Christmases before we moved to Walker AFB, Roswell, New Mexico. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were always a family tradition. Our parents made it special for their families, so we did the same in Roswell. We started our own family tradition there.

Our first son, Daniel, was born July 6, 1963, at John Moses Air Force Hospital in Minot. Three months after arriving in Roswell, our second son, John, was born.

The Kampman home and yard in southwest Minot is decorated for Christmas.

I am one of the only women who never got to go out for dinner on their anniversary. The nice restaurants are closed on Christmas Eve. So, what my husband and I did each Christmas Eve after our children were in bed was wrap their gifts and assemble their toys. We celebrated our anniversary as well.

We moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico – Kirtland AFB’s 58th Weather Squadron. Our daughter, Elizabeth, or Beth, was born. Our little family was complete.

(For Christmas Eve) we added things to make it more of a party – party foods, punch, etc., watching TV of Santa and his reindeer delivering presents to good little boys and girls. There was the excitement of Christmas morning when Santa came. He had eaten his cookies and milk and left all the presents they wanted.

The Christmas programs at church that the children were in, celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ – all these beautiful memories that we cherish.

No snow for Christmas in New Mexico. Sam got orders for Vietnam for February 1970 and he moved us back to Minot to be by my family. Now we had snow again at Christmas and the kids loved it. Sam was retrained for the C-123 aircraft for the Ranch Hands Squadron; their job was to spray Agent Orange. This enabled our forces to observe enemy movements.

The inside of the Kampman home is decorated for Christmas.

When Sam got back, we moved to Forbes AFB, Topeka, Kansas. They closed the base after one year. We moved to Minot AFB, where he was a Field Training instructor. We bought a home in Minot, thinking he would retire here. Sam got orders for Guam. He left in February and the kids and I followed in June when school was out and our home sold. No snow there for Christmas. We were at Tarague Beach for pictures in our island clothes for the Christmas cards we sent that year. We were in Guam for two years. I worked in Civil Service as a historical clerk typist for the 3rd Air Division historian. Mr. Mathson wrote and I typed the histories of the squadrons on base before they went to the Pentagon.

The most interesting story we did was the evacuation of Vietnam. They processed the Vietnamese people through the hangars where Sam’s Field Training office was. This was called “The New Life Report.” They (Vietnamese people) only had the clothes they wore. They were housed and fed in a tent city until they were shipped out to the U.S. and other countries. This year, April 30, 2025, marked 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. We were part of history.

We came back to Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, and the B-52s again. We were there one year. Sam retired after 22 years of military service.

Then (we moved) to Minot, where we built our home. Sam was in construction then but decided Civil Service was a better route for the future. We lived on Highway 52 East between Logan and Sawyer for the next 46 years. Our kids grew up there and graduated from Minot High School. Dan joined the Army and after his four years were up, he moved to Washington state. He married Deanna and helped raise her son, Darrin. John moved to Tampa, Florida, then back to Sawyer later. Beth stayed in Minot and raised our three grandsons Devin, Philip and Madison. It is great to have them nearby. Philip married Katie and we have a great-granddaughter.

So, we have a small but close family always celebrating our anniversary Christmas Eve together. We have made changes over the years. For several years, we would drive around Minot and look at the beautiful Christmas lights, then have hors d’oeuvres and punch. We changed things again when our church started having candlelight service on Christmas Eve, so now we go there for service and communion. Then we drive through Oak Park to view the beautiful light displays and then home for lasagna and hors d’oeuvres. Then we open our gifts to each other. Sometimes we play cards, Hearts and games. It’s a great evening of time with our family.

This year it will be 64 years since we started this tradition. It really beats going out in the cold to eat at a restaurant. The next day we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ by being together for Christmas dinner with our favorite food dishes, some passed down from our mothers.

Sam has just turned 87 and I am 83. Our home burned four years ago and we moved into Minot on Seventh Street Southwest. We are still decorating the outside as well as the inside. We had to start over with new decorations as ours burned in the fire.

We love Christmas. God is good and kept us and our family through this long journey. We are grateful. Forty-seven years since we moved back to Minot. Time has flown too fast.