Thanksgiving – Then and Now

WWII vs Afghanistan

THEN – WWII

Stanley Collins, US Navy: “I was on submarine duty in the Pacific in the year 1943. We were in the area off the cost of the Philippines. I remember having a complete turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. While the turkeys were cooking, the submarine took a dive. We went down too steeply and the turkeys fell out of the oven onto the deck. The cook picked them up and put them back into the oven — and we ate them, regardless of what may have gotten on them as a result of their fall. That meal was so good!”

Ervin Schroeder, 77th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion, I Company, US Army: “On Thanksgiving Day, we made our landing on Leyte Island in the Philippines very early in the morning. We therefore missed our dinner aboard ship. Somewhere down the beach from where we landed, the Navy sent us ham and cheese sandwiches. My buddy happened to get one of the sandwiches and brought it back to our area. I was complaining to him for not bringing one back for me when he started to have stomach cramps… At this point, I shook his hand and thanked him for not bringing me a sandwich.”

Bill Sykes of Plymouth, Combat Engineers and then 1095th Engineer Utility Company, Command SoPac, US Army Engineers 1942-1945:

“The Thanksgiving dinners were served on trays. (My first one, with the Combat Engineers, was served in mess kits. That doesn’t work too well.) They had cranberry sauce, stuffing, the whole thing. It was a good meal. But the feeling of Thanksgiving wasn’t there. The meal was there, but the feeling of Thanksgiving wasn’t. I guess you couldn’t have Thanksgiving when you were overseas. There wasn’t much to be thankful for. It was sad. Although, I guess there was some thankfulness, at least you were still alive!”

 

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NOW – 2018

This year, service members received:
— 9,738 whole turkeys
— 51,234 pounds of roasted turkey
— 74,036 pounds of beef
— 21,758 pounds of ham
— 67,860 pounds of shrimp
— 16,284 pounds of sweet potatoes
— 81,360 pies
— 19,284 cakes
— 7,836 gallons of eggnog

“All of [U.S. Army Central Command’s] food, with very few exceptions, has to come from U.S. sources and moved into the theater,” said Sgt. Maj. Kara Rutter, the ARCENT culinary management NCO in charge. “There are also challenges with the quantity of the food that we’re getting. When you talk about buying 23,000 pounds of shrimp, obviously that affects the entire market.

“We also have to ensure we’re respecting our host nations’ cultures. In some countries, we might not be able to serve certain foods because of cultural and religious considerations.”

Soldiers operating in isolated locations will also receive a hot Thanksgiving meal, Rutter added, thanks to food service professionals in the U.S. who prepared a series of “Unitized Group Rations,” which is “basically a meal in a box.”

“Being away from home during the holidays is very difficult,” Rutter said. “There are a lot of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines who frankly are away from home for their first Thanksgiving, and they are doing some difficult things.

“We want them to be able to take a minute, take a knee, and eat the same type of food that their families are eating 9,000 miles away, all while thinking of them at the same time.”

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Military Humor and something to think about – 

humor from Afghanistan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey will travel

 

“And you were whining about sitting next to Uncle Milt!!”

 

 

 

 

Military turkeys

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Farewell Salutes – 

Richard Arcand – Chelmsford, MA; US Navy, WWII & Korea, Lt.Comdr. (Ret.)

Robert Browning – Cary, NC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 194th GIR/17th Airborne Division

Dick Cadic – NJ; US Army, WWII, T-3 Sgt., telegraph

Thomas Fussell – Alamogordo, NM; US Air Force, Vietnam, Lt.Col., fighter pilot

Edward Gould – Christchurch, NZ; RNZ Army # 61449, WWII, 44/8th Army

Norman Kroeger – Hartford, WI; US Navy, WWII, USS New Mexico

Vincent Losada – San Antonio, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 Bombardier, 487th Bomb Group

Larry McConnell Sr. – Des moines, IA; US Army, WWII & Korea

Walter Shields – Brooklyn, NY; USMC, WWII

Cowden Clark Ward – Fredericksburg, TX; Civilian pilot, founder of “Freedom Flyers”

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