--- 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: 2026-10-07T07:11:52.886Z 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan the Ultimate Christmas Surprise > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan the Ultimate Christmas Surprise [Watch (HLS stream): Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan the Ultimate Christmas Surprise](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bcDzWxTF.m3u8) (0:47)  _Published 2016-12-27. Taylor Swift’s giving spirit during the holidays has reached new heights after she made a surprise visit to one of her oldest fans._ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 27, 2016 3:49 PM UTC Taylor Swift’s giving spirit during the holidays has reached new heights after she made a surprise visit to one of her oldest fans. 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":"2026-10-07T07:11:52.886Z","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":"https://time.com/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"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Taylor Swift Gave a 96-Year-Old Fan the Ultimate Christmas Surprise","description":"Taylor Swift’s giving spirit during the holidays has reached new heights after she made a surprise visit to one of her oldest fans.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bcDzWxTF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-12-27T19:00:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bcDzWxTF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4618283/taylor-swift-fan-christmas-surprise/","duration":"PT47S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4618283/taylor-swift-fan-christmas-surprise/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```