Seventy-nine years ago, in a war-torn town in the middle of Europe, a young soldier from Irondequoit turned into Santa Claus.

The children in Wiltz, Luxembourg hadn’t celebrated Saint Nicholas Day for five years because it was banned by the Nazis.

But in December 1944, the American GI’s showed up and Corporal Dick Brookins from Irondequoit became the “American St. Nick.”

The U.S. Army film shows Brookins in the back of an Army jeep flanked by two girls dressed as angels. On Dec. 5, 1944, Brookins got the vestments from a local priest, the bishop’s mitre hat and a white beard — and to the children of Wiltz he became Saint Nicholas.

Brean: “When you think of Dick Brookins, what comes to mind?”
Steve Momano, Irondequoit: “Santa Claus.”

Steve Momano is a Navy veteran and if anyone outside the Brookins family in Irondequoit and Monroe County is an expert on Brookins and what the American soldiers did that day, he’s it.

He’s struck by the faces of the children in this video.

“Some of them hadn’t tasted candy. Some of them hadn’t done anything related to Christmas, they didn’t know what Christmas was because they had been born into this awful situation,” he said.

“So their first Santa Claus was?” I asked.

“Dick Brookins.”

“I consider him a hero,” said Peter Lion.
 
Lion is an author and director in Connecticut. He heard about the story through a friend and co-worker who happened to be one of Brookins’ sons.

“I said you know somebody should write a book about this! And then I said, wait a minute, I’ll write the book about this.”

“American St. Nick” is the story about how a small band of American soldiers brought Christmas back to a small European town.

“These people in Luxembourg has been through hell,” Lion said. “I think the first impact is the kindness, the absolute pure kindness and remarkable act of generosity that they brought to that town and to those children.”

In 1977, the town of Wiltz invited Brookins and his family back to the town and Brookins played the role St. Nicholas again. One of his sons, Channel 10 photographer Terry Brookins, filmed the video below and produced it for a story on WHEC when the family returned.

It shows Brookins in a real St. Nicholas outfit on a sleigh, tossing candy to children and families packed in the main streets.

Brookins described the reunion to Channel 10 on his return to Rochester.

“It was just obvious that a tremendous bridge had been accomplished between our two countries again,” Brookins said in December 1977.

“It’s magical every time we go. The people are just wonderful,” his son David said. “You can’t pay for a drink in that town.”

Like most soldiers, Dick Brookins didn’t tell war stories.

David Brookins says the family didn’t really appreciate the impact of their father’s role until they went back to Luxembourg.

“I think the legacy is a reminder that freedom is not free and that a little bit of kindness goes a long way,” he said. “The people in Luxembourg were simply amazed that these guys came 3,000 miles to fight a monstrous tyranny on their behalf and liberate them from that, give them their lives back and, oh, by the way we’re going to have a Christmas party for the kids.”

A week after Dick Brookins played St. Nicholas, the Battle of the Bulge began.

“He was St. Nick on the 5th (of December),” David Brookins said. “And fighting for his life on the 16th.”