Civil War drummer boy Willie Johnston received the Medal of Honor on Sept. 16, 1863, two months after his 13th birthday.

The drummer boy was so old that none of it really seemed important. He said happily that he had shoveled the walk six times during the winter, and still smoked eight cigars a day.

The result is "A Drummer Boy Christmas Live: The Cinematic Concert Experience," which is set to debut in theaters nationwide from Dec. 5-12.

David Bowie didn’t like “Little Drummer Boy” until a reworked version convinced the star to sing a duet for Bing Crosby’s Christmas special . In 1977, 30-year-old David Bowie was going to ...

An indispensable part of the ceremony, of course, was the Civil War veteran, and at the time I’m telling about we still had one—a Confederate, naturally.