How One Man Became Santa in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 26 December 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, in the chaotic weeks following Hurricane Katrina, John Rogers never planned to become Santa; he simply found himself in a position to help and chose to act. What followed was an unexpected Christmas for children who had lost their homes, their routines, and nearly everything familiar.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:27.8 | And we return to our American stories every year around Christmas. |
| 0:37.5 | Countless people dress up as Santa Claus, donning the red costume, just to spread some joy to kids eagerly anticipating good times. |
| 0:42.3 | Today, our own Monty Montgomery brings us the story of a man who does just that. |
| 0:43.7 | Take it away, Monty. |
| 0:53.5 | John Rogers of MacDonald County, Missouri plays Santa at his local VFW, but it wasn't something he set out to do. |
| 0:55.0 | The Santa Claus they had died and they asked me if I would do it for them and that's how |
| 1:01.4 | it all got started. |
| 1:02.8 | It's been 18 years now. |
| 1:06.1 | Actually, it's now 21 years since this was recorded in 2018. |
| 1:14.1 | 21 years of going to hospitals to talk to sick kids. |
| 1:18.9 | 21 years of providing some joy to kids whose parents are deployed overseas. |
| 1:22.3 | But what did this Santa do when he wasn't being Santa? |
| 1:28.3 | I was an operating engineer. I run heavy equipment. |
| 1:29.3 | I worked a lot in Springfield, Kansas City, Branson, Fayetteville, Mississippi, Arkansas, |
| 1:37.3 | Little Rock. |
| 1:38.3 | Yeah, I was on a road a lot. |
| 1:40.3 | And it was during his day job that he would meet a man who would lead him into one of his most memorable moments as Santa. |
| 1:50.8 | I helped build a low store in Marion, Mississippi, which is, and I stayed in Jackson, Mississippi. |
| 1:59.1 | And one of my, I ran a motor grader down there, and he was called my grade checker. |
| 2:04.6 | He was one on the ground that would tell me how much dirt to put in or how much to take |
... |
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