NORFOLK, Va. — "Holiday Salute " is back!
13News Now reporters Mike Gooding, Philip Townsend, and Dana Smith shine a spotlight upon the local armed forces.
This year, they are focusing on the 5,000 men and women of the Norfolk-based USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Stike Group, who find themselves far from home this holiday season in the Fifth Fleet
Fleet Area of Operations: the Middle East.
Additionally, the program will showcase the founding father of this project -- retired 13News Now reporter Joe Flanagan -- as he reminisces with the former captain of the USS Iwo Jima and the show they did back in 1990.
The show then digs even deeper into the archives, going back to 1989 when Flanagan played Santa's helper aboard the USS Forrestal.
The show also tackles some tough topics. This year's program looks at what the military is doing to confront the problem of suicide in the ranks and the show highlights a local man who has been fighting veterans' homelessness for decades: Willard “Smitty” Smith, who has served as Executive Director at Vetshouse, Inc., a nonprofit organization serving homeless male and female veterans in Virginia Beach.
The 2023 Holiday Salute will air on 13News Now on the following dates and at the following times:
- December 22 at 4 p.m.
- December 25 at 6:30 a.m.
- January 1 at 4:30 p.m.
The special puts the spotlight on our dedicated servicemen and servicewomen.
Holiday Salute first aired in 1986, when it was originally titled A Navy Christmas. The show has spanned seminal events in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including the Cold War, Operation Desert Storm, the Bosnia and Kosovo wars, 9/11, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Inherent Resolve.
The show has encompassed the administrations of seven commanders-in-chief: Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. It tells the stories of our military members on the front lines and the families that wait for them back home in Hampton Roads.
You can watch previous Holiday Salutes and Navy Christmases on our YouTube channel as well as on our free streaming app, 13News Now+!