--- title: Taylor Swift Surprises WWII Veteran for Christmas description: Keeping with her holiday tradition, Taylor Swift gave a surprise visit and performance to a 96-year-old WWII veteran. canonical: https://time.com/4618283/taylor-swift-fan-christmas-surprise/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-27T15:49:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:44.493Z og:title: Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan a Christmas Surprise og:description: The WWII veteran got to experience "Swiftmas" og:url: https://time.com/4618283/taylor-swift-fan-christmas-surprise/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8593b08655325f1e/6988b404cd1bba435b7037ae/taylor-swift.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: "One Chance" Portraits - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan a Christmas Surprise twitter:description: The WWII veteran got to experience "Swiftmas" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8593b08655325f1e/6988b404cd1bba435b7037ae/taylor-swift.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan the Ultimate Christmas Surprise by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 27, 2016 3:49 PM UTC  Actress Taylor Swift of 'One Chance' poses at the Guess Portrait Studio during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2013. Actress Taylor Swift of 'One Chance' poses at the Guess Portrait Studio during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2013.Larry Busacca—Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 27, 2016 3:49 PM UTC [Taylor Swift](http://time.com/3578249/taylor-swift-interview/?iid=sr-link1) has always had a soft spot for [Christmas](http://time.com/4161267/taylor-swift-elf-costume-christmas/?iid=sr-link1) and her fans. It’s become tradition for the pop singer to hand out gifts to her most devoted followers around the holidays, calling the occasion “[Swiftmas](http://time.com/3651775/behind-the-scenes-of-taylor-swifts-swiftmas-christmas-gift-extravaganza/?iid=sr-link2).” And this year, she decided to pay a surprise visit to one of her oldest fans — a 96-year-old veteran named Cyrus Porter. > [](https://twitter.com/carofowler14/status/813516304179138560) According to [E! News](http://www.eonline.com/news/818111/taylor-swift-just-surprised-a-96-year-old-veteran-with-a-christmas-miracle), [Swift](http://time.com/3940500/apple-music-taylor-swift-release/?iid=sr-link9) stopped by the World War II veteran’s family home the day after Christmas to make his wildest dreams come true. Most 96-year-olds may not be able to tell Swift’s “Blank Space” from her “Never Ever Getting Back Together,” but Porter recently expressed his admiration for the singer in a local news interview. “I’ve been to two concerts. Memphis and St. Louis,” he told [KFVS news](http://www.kfvs12.com/story/34110592/96-year-old-wwii-vet-from-new-madrid-mo-loves-taylor-swift). “Look what she does … she puts on a show no one else puts on … I just liked the way she did stuff.” That interview went viral and may have caught [Swift](http://time.com/4062532/taylor-swift-lyrics-john-stamos-julianne-moore/?iid=sr-link6)’s attention, spurring her post-Christmas trip to Porter’s home in New Madrid, Mo. The singer showed up at a family Christmas party for a visit and a performance of her hit “Shake It Off.” > [](https://twitter.com/bert%5Ffrye/status/813508482028683264) The visit was a hit, according to Porter’s family. “My Popo was ecstatic! He was grinning from ear to ear and even had tears in his eyes,” family member Caroline Fowler [told E! News](http://www.eonline.com/news/818111/taylor-swift-just-surprised-a-96-year-old-veteran-with-a-christmas-miracle). It’s another Swiftmas present for the record books. \[[E! Online](http://www.eonline.com/news/818111/taylor-swift-just-surprised-a-96-year-old-veteran-with-a-christmas-miracle)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4618283/taylor-swift-fan-christmas-surprise/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4618283/taylor-swift-fan-christmas-surprise/"},"headline":"Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan the Ultimate Christmas Surprise","datePublished":"2016-12-27T15:49:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:44.493Z","description":"The WWII veteran got to experience \"Swiftmas\"","url":"https://time.com/4618283/taylor-swift-fan-christmas-surprise/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Veterans","celebrities","Music","Taylor Swift","World War II","Fans","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8593b08655325f1e/6988b404cd1bba435b7037ae/taylor-swift.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8593b08655325f1e/6988b404cd1bba435b7037ae/taylor-swift.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"One Chance\" Portraits - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival","caption":"\"One Chance\" Portraits - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival","creditText":"Larry Busacca—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4618283/taylor-swift-fan-christmas-surprise/","name":"Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan the Ultimate Christmas Surprise"}}]}] ```