Thanksgiving – Then and Now
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!”
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 –
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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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Posted on November 22, 2018, in First-hand Accounts, Home Front, Korean War, SMITTY, Uncategorized, Vietnam, WWII and tagged 1940's, family history, History, Military, Military History, Thanksgiving, veterans, Vintage, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 161 Comments.
Thankful for all of those serving our country throughout the year. Holidays have to be an especially difficult time to be away from their families no matter what the military might try to provide in the way of Thanksgiving dinner.
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Agreed, Bev. Thank goodness nowadays they at least have I-phones and Skype.
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Thanks for your like of my post, “Israel 1 – A Pagan Breeds A Nation;” you are very kind.
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Most welcome.
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Thank you very much. Please have a very good day.
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🙂
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My brother and uncle were in the Navy! My brother was a Nuclear Engineer.
My dad was in the Air Force.
Right now, I have a loved one in the Army. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say what he does because of OPEC Rules.
God Bless our Heroes!
I’m going to make another concrete poem for all of my heroes 😊
Nika
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Thank your family members for their service for me, please. I’ll be looking forward to your poem.
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Frontline Heroes
For our freedom and safety,
each hero valiantly
surveys and combs
life-threatening situations
in the most dangerous
of zones.
.
Though words
cannot justify their bravery,
these Heroes Of The Frontline,
I give them my gratitude,
expressed, only vaguely,
in this humble rhyme.
© 2018 Yancosky
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Thank you for contributing your work. It’s wonderful!
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♥️🌈♥️🌈
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The Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Army are all my heroes! ♥️♥️♥️
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I’m very happy to hear that!!
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Reblogged this on depolreablesunite.
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Thank you, Rick.
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A moving reminder of all those who have sacrificed for our freedoms.
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Thank you.
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It is a great post! It is an important tribute to who fought for the country and the democracy. You have an awesome site. I hope you will visit my travel blog: https://my-anasa.com/
Thank you!
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Thank you. You have a terrific blog yourself!
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Many thanks for your kind words!
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Bet the turkeys don’t think the same about all that, but I love these posts and the memories evoked.
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Happy to hear that, Maureen.
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Reblogged this on The Tactical Hermit and commented:
I love Post like this that put it all into perspective.
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Thank you TH for helping me to share not only the history, but the men who watch our backs today!!
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I just wanted to take a moment over this Thanksgiving Weekend Holiday to THANK YOU GP for this awesome blog!
As a Veteran, it is extremely important to me personally to keep the memory and spirit of not only the WW2 Generation but ALL those Marines, Soldiers,, Sailors and Airmen (in that order, LOL) that came before us and ‘laid it on the line’ so that other may be free.
Keep up the Good Work GP and Always Know you have a brother here in Texas supporting you!
Stay Armed and Dangerous!
The Tactical Hermit
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I thank you very much for those words. It is people such as yourself that help to make this blog what it is! While your site tries to show people how to stay safe today.
I thank you for that!
Enjoy the holidays!!
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Dat waren andere tijden want zullen de soldaten op dat moment met weemoed aan hun warme thuis gedacht hebben
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So true. Letters took forever to get delivered and the enemy fighting – bad happy holiday all the way around. But they somehow made the best of it and did their duty.
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Enjoyed reading this post and seeing the food items received.
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Thank you for stopping in!
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Wonderful post, GP. The comparison was remarkable. Happy Thanksgiving to you. 🦃
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I hope these holidays treat you well!!
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You, too GP. 🙂
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🙂
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That’s a whole lot of turkey 🙂 keeping the family together so to speak.
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Never thought of it like that – very good!
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Thanks GP
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You’re welcome.
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Grateful for all those who fought for our freedom.
Hope you and your family had a lovely Thanksgiving.
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Small, quiet, but very grateful! Thank you.
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GP – Mike at “Bit About Britain” posted this today:
http://bitaboutbritain.com/cambridge-american-cemetery/
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Thank you for sending the link. It shows they did not die needlessly, but for the freedoms of all. It is especially nice when other countries remember.
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All the best of the season to you GP. Happy Thanksgiving
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And the same to you, Michael!
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It is really important for a country to support its service personnel overseas (They don’t make the policies.) And one of the best ways of doing this is to give them the means to celebrate traditional the festivals of the year. 9,738 whole turkeys and 51,234 pounds of roasted turkey should go a long way to achieving that!
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I remember Dad telling me that giving the men a piece of home for the holidays, such as a turkey, was considered high-priority. A little bit goes a long way in morale.
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How wonderful! Hope you and your family had a Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
HUGS!!! 🙂
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Quiet but good, thank you. Hope yours went well!!
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