The overseas military community is about to get a special infusion of holiday cheer courtesy of Netflix and the American Forces Network (AFN).

AFN is airing the Netflix movie Operation Christmas Drop as well as the real story about the Department of Defense’s longest running humanitarian assistance operation Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. (Central European Time and Japan|Korea Time) on AFN|movie.

Operation Christmas Drop started and has continued since December 1952 when a B-29 air crew saw islanders waving at them from the island of Kapingamarangi, near Guam. The air crew felt the holiday spirit and responded by attaching goodies to parachutes and dropping the bundles to the islanders. That tradition continues today, despite COVID-19.

“AFN is proud to once again partner with Netflix to showcase the story of this real life humanitarian effort in this wonderful holiday film,” said Karreem Lowe, Chief Television. “We appreciate how Netflix continues to show its admiration for our viewers stationed overseas by allowing their special military themed programming to be viewed on the American Forces Network.”

Netflix previously collaborated with AFN to air the four-part series The Liberator on AFN on Veterans Day. As with the team that created The Liberator, the producers of the Netflix movie are happy to share their story with AFN.

“We’re so proud to have worked hand-in-hand with the U.S. Military and the Operation Christmas Drop organization to bring our film to life and to ensure that our storytelling was accurate when it came to representing the annual tradition,” the producers said. “Operation Christmas Drop is a fun, heartfelt movie full of holiday spirit and we’re so excited to share it with military service members and their families across the globe.”

AFN will encore Operation Christmas Drop on Christmas Day at 2 p.m. on AFN|movie (Central European Time and Japan|Korea Time).