Share your favorite photo or memory from a Thanksgiving you spent away from home

My first Thanksgiving in the army was in 1966 and I got to visit my uncle on Long Island. It was great!

My favorite memory of Thanksgiving day was in 1994, Camp Casey Korea (Dongducheon-si). That day was my first Thanksgiving ever. It was amazing even though I was not with my immediate family but I was with my new family. My comrades, my buddies, my brothers in arms. It was a great experience!!!

Thanksgiving 1965, arrived in Da Nang Vietnam that morning it was raining and muddy and miserable as we climbed aboard a deuce and a half to go to our new outfit. We missed the turkey dinner and therefore we had c-rations for our Thanksgiving dinner. I had ham and beans, the ration box had the date of 1955.

In 1970 I was on the USS America returning from Vietnam with over 40 days at sea. We celebrated Thanksgiving and then crossed the international date line and celebrated again the next day.

The wonderful and lots of food in Korea in the cold weather

I don't know if this is my favorite. I was in basic training and got really sick. I spent the whole day in my bunk trying to fight whatever it was that had gotten me. I was originally a retailer and didn't believe in missing work. I was right back at it with the rest of them

Thanksgiving Day 2007. Firebase Anaconda, Oruzgan. Awoken in my B hut by the mortar alarm clock. The walls shook as I grabbed my kit and ran out the door. I jumped in V2 after helping to rig it up with its weapons. We rolled up the ramp to the south wall. V2 had the M47 as primary. We didn't get to fire it as we were taking only mortars and rockets from Toshakan mountain which was out of small arms and heavy weapons range. So, we helped spot and prep mortars. Got to hang and drop a few from the 81 and 120. Probably went through 300 rounds? I'm not sure, but the dunnage pile was an impressive mound. The CCT's directed a B2 to drop five to seven 500 pounders on em. Got it on a crappy digital cam video. We did that until about noon I think. Their ICOMs chatter was hilarious. They were screaming about needing more vehicles to pick up their bodies. Then we had dinner. I think we even had some brass fly out on the ring route. Then when the sun went down the mortars and rockets came in and we did it all again!

Many warriors will be away from love ones on this special day. Take care and God bless you . Your family’s at home will be safe because of all of us that sacrifice. See you soon.

I was stationed at Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal on Thanksgiving 1985. One of the base chaplains invited to his place to be a part of his family for the holiday. I was a single airman at the time and it was my first permanent duty station. I was away from home and family and overseas for the first time. It was an adjustment for me since my family always got together for Thanksgiving and had a Hugh turnout. But having the Chaplain invite me over made things nice. We had a nice Hugh traditional meal. We all shared what we were thankful for. The chaplain said this Thanksgiving was a tradition him and his wife started when he joined the Air Force. He said he never took leave during Thanksgiving because he wanted to open his home to his new family, the military family. He knew not everyone could get leave and wanted to make a place for military members to enjoy it. After dinner we watched the Lions game on tv on the only channel available on tv. After that they allowed me to doze off in the recliner. Then woke up and nibbled on more food and played board games. This was the best Thanksgivings away from home I had.

My memory of Thanksgiving in Vietnam in 1966 stands out. Two of us were on Dragon Mountain which was South of Pleiku City and the highest point for miles which made it perfect for our radio relay operations. We ate C rations three times a day and had only enough water for drinking while on the mountain. To our surprise our unit shipped us a turkey dinner in Mermite containers. There was hot turkey, mashed potatoes and vegetable. It was a welcome break from the C's and left a lasting impression on us.