Dennis F. Keefe

Dennis F. Keefe was born in February 1951, in New York City. His father was an 82^nd Airborne Division paratrooper in World War II who enlisted when he was sixteen, even though that was considered illegal. The last battle the elder Keefe fought in was the “Bridge Too Far” in Holland. As a child, Dennis learned a lot about World War II battles from his father, who motivated him to enlist. Keefe said that his father had “been an enormous influence on my life.” 

In his senior year, Keefe almost quit high school to join the Marines with his cousin. He eventually enlisted in the Army, but would have been drafted anyway. As an engineer, after basic training, Keefe was sent to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for crane operating school. He discovered that he was sent to the wrong school. Keefe spent a long time waiting to get into a class at mechanics school, so he served as a barracks guard for almost two months.

On July 4, 1970, Keefe arrived in Vietnam and was assigned to the 589^th Engineer Battalion, the location of which he described as “basically in the center of South Vietnam”. When he first got to the base, they did not need mechanics, so he drove a dump truck for five weeks. 

The war was not as intense in 1970 as it had been during the Tet Offensive; although, Keefe recalled that he usually heard bombs going off, and there were still traumatic experiences. One major event for him occurred on August 28, when his friend, Henry Benjamin Thomas, was killed. Thomas was shortly due to go home, but the road his convoy was on was mined. He set off a booby trap and was killed. Keefe described this incident as “a real shocker to all of us.”  Thomas was a “happy-go-lucky, fun” kind of guy, and the event was a reality check for Keefe. When a crane operator went over the side of a mountain with his crane, Keefe, who had some training as a crane operator, was assigned to the job, and discovered that the crane was useful in Vietnam.

Early on, Keefe told his commanding officer that his adopted brother was stationed in Vietnam; he was given a three-day pass to visit him in Phu Bai. His brother was a crew member on a helicopter that had been shot down in Cambodia, and he had been wounded. He was rescued and brought back to his company by helicopter. Keefe was promoted to Specialist 5 and was sometimes tasked to run to Da Nang for supplies. One time, on the ride to Da Nang via Route 1, he was stopped and told his convoy was speeding!

Keefe stated that because of his friend’s death, “I had a very deep hatred of Vietnamese people for a long time,” and added that, “there was a lot of lying going on” in reporting the war. His interactions with Vietnamese soldiers made things worse. Keefe would issue packs consisting of cigarettes, toothpaste, papers, and deodorant to the soldiers, and then they would steal his cigarettes. Keefe cursed at them for taking his cigarettes and said, “from that moment on, I hated Vietnamese people.”

In Vietnam, the racial problems of America were also present. Keefe did not consider himself a prejudiced person, because he had African American and Hispanic friends. His company camp had four towers, each with a machine gun that would be shot off every night. It was rumored that some African American soldiers tried to convince others in the company to go to the towers and shoot white soldiers. Speaking of the racial problem, Keefe said he “wishes that would go away someday.”

In July 1971, Keefe got home, and was scheduled to be sent to Germany. With the assistance of a Congressperson, he got his orders changed, and went to Fort Devens in Massachusetts. In September, Keefe was sent to Camp Drum in New York, where he drove a truck for three months. Then he was sent back to Fort Devens. By Christmas, it was announced that everyone whose enlistment ended in 1972 would be discharged six months early, something Keefe describes as “the best Christmas present I ever got”. He left the service in early March of 1972 and got a job driving a tractor-trailer. Keefe then worked for the New York State Division For Youth for six months, and went to Staten Island Community College. There he earned fifty credits and became a veteran counselor. As a counselor, Keefe helped veterans find places to live and apply for benefits for their families.

On Christmas 1974, Keefe pulled children out of a burning car in the Bronx. He was surrounded by flames, but got all the children out, although he had a third-degree burn on his leg, as well as almost needed a skin graft. After the rescue, Keefe gained instant celebrity status, and the incident provided good publicity for Vietnam veterans, who were often disdained at the time. He started getting phone calls and mail from people, and the mayor of New York City even brought him into the “Blue Room” and gave him an award. Keefe received checks from different organizations, but chose to give them to the children he saved so they could get Christmas presents. His mother received an award for assisting in the rescue, and it seemed like every other weekend he was gaining more recognition. In 1976 he received the Carnegie Hero Medal for the rescue.

After rescuing the children, Keefe decided to go to Santa Claus school. He said, “In my mind, the first day I became Santa Claus was that Christmas Day fire.” His big break as Santa Claus was when he went to Disney World on a family vacation. Keefe was at the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor show, where they made fun of people, and at the end of the show, everyone sang “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” and he was on the screen. The characters in the show said, “Now we know where Santa Claus goes on vacation!” He took a DVD course and got a diploma in “Santa Claus-ology,” and received another at Santa school in Philadelphia.

Keefe took the “Santa Oath” with hall of fame wrestler Mick Foley. He played Santa Claus for Holiday Express, a nonprofit organization that goes to hospitals, veterans’ centers, homeless shelters, churches, and soup kitchens to give the underprivileged a Christmas with food, entertainment, and characters such as Rudolph, the Grinch, and Frosty the Snowman. Keefe is worried about being asked to be Santa in summer, yet is prepared. He enjoys being Santa Claus, because in his words, “I like helping people, and I like making people smile. That is what I do.” Keefe has post-traumatic stress, but to him, being Santa Claus is therapy.

Keefe worked for Conrail and Amtrak as a railroad engineer for 28 years before retiring and working at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey as a security guard. There, he met the manager of famous comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, who joked, “Look at the security! We even got Santa Claus!” Keefe eventually got Sebastian and his wife to donate money to Holiday Express. He says of his job, “I get to listen to great music, and I like the people…that’s important in this business.”

Additional Resources:

• carnegiehero.org article
• app.com article