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Chet King ©Stars and StripesYokohama, Japan, December, 1979: A famous visitor adroitly carries a Christmas tree as he pedals to a meeting with children at the Yokohama Navy Exchange. The man from the North Pole fielded the usual requests for toys, but kids at Yokohama also wanted a quick return home for their dads on the USS Midway, stationed in the Persian Gulf as a result of the Iranian hostage crisis that began in November.

RELATED MATERIAL: Stars and Stripes' story about Santa's 1979 stop at Yokohama.