Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013

As the holiday season kicks off tomorrow, take a moment and step back from the sales, hoopla, family dinners/arguments/loony Uncles etc. and think about how lucky we are to live where we do…


And have the freedoms that we have, both due to our country and our ability to EARN a good enough living to be able to feed the crowd, travel to family, and the other things that we take for granted…


Having spent a number of Thanksgivings and Christmases out of the country over the years, I truly count myself lucky to be able to enjoy these holidays with family and friends.  I know many scoff at the food in the military, but I will tell you that Thanksgiving and Christmas the mess halls/chow halls, the field kitchens, the mess decks on the ships and subs ALL go out of their way to fix a traditional meal, literally soup to nuts (and everything in between) for those servicemen and women (and on shore bases the families) of our military.  


This is from the 646th ADC in New Jersey (in 1956).





This is from the 71st Transportation Battalion in Vietnam in 1967



A bit of history…  From Plimoth Plantation living history museum

What Was on the First Thanksgiving Menu?
Little is known about the first Thanksgiving dinner in the Plimoth Colony in October 1621, attended by some 50 English colonists and about 90 Wampanoag American Indian men in what is now Massachusetts.
We do know that the Wampanoag killed five deer for the feast, and that the colonists shot wild fowl—which may have been geese, ducks, or turkey. Some form, or forms, of Indian corn were also served.
But Jennifer Monac, spokesperson for the living-history museum Plimoth Plantation, said the feasters likely supplemented their venison and birds with fish, lobster, clams, nuts, and wheat flour, as well as vegetables such as pumpkin, squash, carrots, and peas.
“They ate seasonally,” Monac said in 2009, “and this was the time of the year when they were really feasting. There were lots of vegetables around, because the harvest had been brought in.”
Much of what we consider traditional Thanksgiving fare was unknown at the first Thanksgiving. Potatoes and sweet potatoes hadn’t yet become staples of the English diet, for example. And cranberry sauce requires sugar—an expensive delicacy in the 1600s. Likewise, pumpkin pie went missing due to a lack of crust ingredients.
And the whole food coma thing?  Well, that’s yet another myth…
It’s not the tryptophan in the turkey, it’s the booze, the amount of food (those second and third helpings of Granny’s sweet potato casserole and the pumpkin pie), and the sheer relaxation (other than the family fights/looney Uncle) and not having to work the next day…

And please, when you do sit down for your Thanksgiving, say a prayer for all our men and women serving in the military wherever they may be, and remember too our LEOs, Fire and EMS folks that are on the front lines here at home every day.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours…


I ‘did’ have another post in mind, but drjim beat me to it 🙂

Comments

Happy Thanksgiving!!! — 28 Comments

  1. I’ve had to work on Thanksgiving, too, sometimes out of the country, though not in many years.
    Hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

  2. Hi Jim, Great post. I have had some great thanksgiving meals while working for our rich Uncle over the years.

    Hope you are with your family this year and have a great time. I am lucky to have all four of my kids and all the grandchildren present and at attention!!

    Have a happy, happy day!

    wv: tonguen! I think I might like some of that!!

  4. Right on the money, NFO. I try to make it a regular thing to stop and consider how blessed I am and that it came at a cost. Bless the boys keeping us free.

  6. Happy Thanksgiving to you Sir! We indeed owe much for those that came before us.

    See you next weekend?

  8. A couple of my most memorable Thanksgiving meals were served out of Mermite IFCs (Insulated Food Containers). It wasn’t that the food was so good, it was the thought that was behind it.

    Thoughts and prayers to everyone who can’t be with their loved ones tomorrow…

  9. Being in the Chairforce back in the sixties, we always had good chow.
    My Boss and I pray for our troops every night. Without them on guard we would not have any Thanks.
    To you and yours, thank you.

  17. drjim- Thanks

    Ev- Enjoy the day my friend!

    JR- Glad to see they are STILL continuing the tradition!

    45/Andy/Danny- Thanks

    Keads- Yep, I’ll be there

    Tim- Ah yes, Mermites… sigh…

    Skip- Thanks!

    Mrs. C- That would be neat! Thanks!

    SS- I’m not THAT old…LOL Mine were in the 70’s and 80’s

    WSF- I remember the menus being posted, but I don’t remember them on tables…

    DT/Bob/MSG/DB- and to y’all too!

  18. Here’s to a wonderful day for which the post was quite fitting.

    Thank you for the gift of friendship over the many years.

  20. Spent my First Military Thanksgiving in Great Lakes at Boot Camp, and there were many, many more to follow. Yes, the Chow Hall People always did their best, but if you were deployed or had the duty, it still sucked.

    But no one with any brains says Freedom is Free, now do they?

    Happy Turkey Day!

  23. Brigid- And to you Lady!

    RT- Thanks!

    Les- Good point…

    Fuzzy- Thanks

    Ed- Yep, it does bring back a memory or two doesn’t it…

  26. Wanted to apologize for the length of time it’s taking me to publish your comments – I can SEE’em on my phone, but for whatever reason, the phone doesn’t give the links necessary to allow – and since I’m seeing them while @ work, with no access to a computer, {that I wouldn’t get in HELLATIOUS TROUBLE for using 😉 }, I’m hoping you understand ………………. 😉

    Semper Fi’
    DM