Posted on 11/27/2008 11:27:57 AM PST by BenLurkin
SAINT-JEAN-ROHRBACH, France - When the orders came to take the town of Hilsprich, a tiny burg halfway between Metz and Strasbourg in the disputed Alsace-Lorraine region between Germany and France, Bill Diestel thought he was in for an easy Thanksgiving Day.
"We were supposed to rest, and then an order came through that we had to take the next town," Diestel said, recalling the day now 64 years ago. "We knew we wouldn't be getting any artillery support, so we thought it would be a snap to take."
But he and the other soldiers in the Army's 35th Infantry Division found the German army had the town well-fortified.
"All hell broke loose," said Diestel. "We had Germans dug in our flank. And some guys, when they got to the town, it was filled with Germans. ...
Before that day, Diestel said his company, A Company, had more than 180 men. After, it was down to 40.
...
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Remo Cuniberti spent Thanksgiving 1941 on board the USS West Virginia, a battleship anchored in Pearl Harbor.
...
"I think they had some kind of turkey dinner," said Cuniberti, who lives in Palmdale. "But they weren't that elaborate. It wasn't a big thing they'd put on with pies and dressing - not like nowadays."
He said Navy food was better after the United States was fully engaged in the war, but Thanksgiving dinner was hard to come by.
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BIAK ISLAND, Indonesia - On Thanksgiving Day 1944, Cpl. Walter "Wally" Sneathen cooked a turkey dinner for 300 men in the Army Air Corps.
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"We didn't have any special stoves or anything," he said. "We had the field stoves that you put the gasoline in, and you pump them up and light them up and you cook that way."
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
About 2 in the afternoon we got a call from our topside security that we had visitors approaching the gate. As teamchief, it was my responsibility to check out the visitors. As the vehicle neared, I saw it was the DCM (Deputy Commander for Maintenance) a full bull colonel. I thought "Great, what we really need right now is a social call".
This guy brought out his wife and kids and a complete homemade hot turkey meal for us. He also arranged to have us relieved in time to spend some of Thanksgiving with our families.
That is how to command!
I don't know how they pulled it off, but the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners they arranged weren't better than not bad. They were FANTASTIC! I think in every case I went back for thirds.
I never had to work on the mess deck and felt it was likely a thankless task. I remember there was a Petty Officer 1st Class who ran the galley. I remember everyone who worked there, even the mess cooks assigned from the divisions (I was never so assigned) thought he was the best guy on the ship for whom to work. It had something to do with his work ethic: Here we work hard, and we play hard. He apparently insisted of a days work for a day's pay. He also insisted on feeding the crew with minimal use of man-hours and on liberal use of liberty. I loved it that I was never assigned as a mess cook. In retrospect I found it interesting that radiomen and radarmen who worked near me (I was a sonar tech) came back after a their assignments as mess cooks, disappointed that their assignments had ended.
Nevertheless, this 1st Cass Petty Officer was responsible for 100% of the menu for the crew. He apparently thought Thanksgiving and Christmas were important days for the crew and planned accordingly. Great Caesar's Ghost, he earned his pay on those days!
I spent two Thanksgiving Days in Viet Nam aboard a 338-foot Army ship, the USAV Page. Our chow was always good, but imagine the surprise of the enlisted crew when our ship’s officers showed up wearing their going home khakis. As each man made his choices, an officer would order him to take a seat and the officer would deliver his tray. This nineteen year old kid was impressed!
Black and White were both from Loozyanna, and they cooked the oinker -- a little smaller than a Volkswagen -- in a pit lined with glowing coals for what seemed like days. When Thanksgiving day came, we had an old-fashioned Cajun pig-pull that I hold dear in my memory to this day. And if I had the recipe for Sp5 White's secret sauce, I would be a billionaire.
I wonder what Nguyen did with all those turkeys?
Great stories all — thank you for posting.
And thank you for your service.
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