I wish I had taken pictures...but I was 20 years old back then, and not into photos of myself. It was Thanksgiving, and I was stationed in Germany. The Mess Hall had turkey and all the fixings. And other than essential Duty Stations, everyone had the day off.
Only four of the guys in my Platoon were married. And there were 21 of us single guys. All four married folks lived off Post. Lots of times, we would take their weekend Guard Duty so they could hang out with their wives. The little things to kind of make it a little easier on having some semblance of a Home Life for them. We didn't think it was a big deal to take over their CQ, or Guard Duty, or offer to fill in on a weekend so they could have both days instead of just one. But I guess they did.
Because the four wives got together and said:
"No way are those guys going to eat at the Mess Hall. They need real food, real pies, and real people around."
And so, it turns out, one of the married guys lived in a big old house in the old Servants Quarters upstairs. Their Landlord, a German Widow Lady, agreed to let them host us in her big formal dining room. It held the entire Platoon!
So the four wives cooked up a feast you only see in Movies about King Henry the Eighth! One of the wives was from the South, and that was the first time I ever tasted turkey that was fried! Another one of the Wives was a Blue Ribbon winning Pie baker from the hills of Eastern Kentucky. And man, she earned thos ribbons. Another one of wives made like three kinds of bean casseroles and some kind of Yam Dish, that I thought was a pie!
A couple of the guys had German Girlfriends who were also invited to come along. And they don't have Thanksgiving over there, so those girls were just amazed at the whole experience. Half the food and pies they had never tasted before. But girls being girls, (back then, at least) jumped right in and helped the four wives set tables, put out cutlery and glasses, and get the food on all the platters.
The only drawback (for some) as there was no alcohol served. The German Land Lady did not want any drunken brawls in her house, which was immaculate and stuffed with breakable stuff. But most of us had no problem with that, as there were plenty of sodas, sweet tea (thanks to the Southern Bride!) and coffee galore.
We ate like we had never had food before. People told stories, shared recipes...and just pretended we were home for a bit.
To the Single Guys Credit, we didn't let those women touch a thing to clean the place up. We cleared the tables, packed up everything and left that German Lady's Dining room ready for any IG Inspection. We did such a good job that the German Land Lady sent a note to our Company Commander, complimenting him on raising good Soldiers as Gentlemen Warriors.
And so, four young wives, barely out of their teens (the oldest was all of 23!) Cooked and baked, and sweated in the kitchen for a full day to make it a Happy Thanksgiving for a bunch of lonely guys far away from home.
And that is one of the good things I liked about being in the Army.