Luke Pernotto

I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving.  The uniquely American holiday where you make too much food for one meal and spend the day with family and friends.  I love this holiday even when family is replaced with friends.  This day takes on an even more important meaning when I was stationed overseas where guests at the table were from many different nations and many foreigners were introduced to this uniquely American holiday.  Since I was 18 most of those celebrations have either not occurred on the recognized date or were celebrated with people whom I had no familial relationship to.  But I wouldn’t say they weren’t celebrated without family.  

I read a report this week that 91% of the country will celebrate the holiday on Thursday. This desire to get together seems highly unlikely, especially how divided we were as a nation three short weeks ago. Even with our gatherings we will still have disagreements. Unlike division along party lines we will now find ourselves in different separate factions. There will be the cranberry sauce vs canned cranberry jelly, pumpkin vs the cherry pie, white meat vs dark meat, stuffing vs. dressing.  Regardless of our culinary preferences I am happy that we as a nation can still come to the table for a collective meal.  

I have spent Thanksgivings around the world with both family and isolated with only friends. I have broken bread with Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Bahraini’s, French, Afghanis, Australians, and a host of other nationalities. Each nationality has brought their own foods and dining customs to the table. I have enjoyed the holiday because it doesn’t matter if the main dish is Turkey, Lo-mein, goat, or sushi the idea of people getting together to eat a meal that they could physically not complete. In all those meals I have never had a bad experience. All have departed happy and full.

My most memorable Thanksgiving fell in the final days of my deployment to Afghanistan.  We had already gone through six months of fighting across 82 square kilometers along the Helmand river.  We had conflicts with the Taliban, local Afghans and to be honest I had just as many conflicts with my leadership.  

By the day of the big meal most of the company had been withdrawn back to the main base for consolidation prior to returning to the states.  The only Marines from the company were myself, a few squad leaders and some communication Marines.  For weeks we had been doing what was referred to as left seat right seat where for the first week the incoming unit would follow us and observe how we had conducted business.  The second week was the outgoing unit taking the back seat and following them along.  We were at the end of the second week and by that point every unit was sick of the other one being around and both were hoping that they would just go away.  

We got word that the day after Thanksgiving we would be flying out of our base, so thanksgiving day was really ours.  This was my fourth combat deployment so I was more than happy not to go on any more patrols.  For most Americans Thanksgiving is a family holiday.  As a child I remember heading back to my grandparents houses to spend it with relatives we normally did not see.  In the military it rarely happens that you are willing to travel any large distance when you only have one or two days off from work.  The tyranny of distance when in Afghanistan only complicates the issue.  So the fact that none of us at the table were related affected the joy we got in gathering together for Thanksgiving dinner.  After what we went through the last six months I don’t think there was anyone else on earth we would have wanted to spend the holiday with.  

The table was a sheet of warped plywood laid over ammo crates and MRE boxes.  The chairs were an unmatched mix of camp stools, ammo crates and MRE boxes.  There was no table cloth, No table decorations.  Only the prepared thanksgiving meal supplemented with our prize items from our saved care packages.  Over the six months each of us had squirreled away precious items from care packages.  A bag of wasabi chickpeas, favorite candies, hand made jerkey, and other treats that were special to each of us.  These were now brought out to share generously with the group due to our impending departure.  In a few short days we would be back to the land where this was plentiful but for today these food items constituted our most valuable possessions.  

As if to bring the conclusion to our time together we heard explosions in the distance as we finished our meal.  The oncoming Platoon Commander came rushing over to our table.  When he gave me the direction and distance I had a hunch that I confirmed with our higher headquarters over the radio.  The area’s artillery fire base, Fiddler’s Green, had just fired a mission.  With my suspicions confirmed I reassured our replacements that those were our explosions.  

So as you gather at family homes, friends’ apartments, or far off lands enjoy this uniquely American holiday.  In a nation where 50% of the voting population was against the next president, at least 91% of us can make the effort to come together to give our thanks for being in this country.  And as you go to your dinners don’t forget to bring something you have been squirreling away for a special occasion.  Those items that mean the most to you could make this meal more memorable for the rest of the guests.