Posted on 11/28/2013 5:19:19 PM PST by SandRat
The 20-year-old soldier from St. Louis, Mo., was eating his Thanksgiving meal Wednesday — actually a pre-holiday feast — at the Thunderbird Dining Facility.
Turkey and dressing, along with ham, cole slaw, another salad and banana pudding was the spread he choose for his meal, which he declared to be “pretty good.”
But like many young GIs, no Thanksgiving or Christmas meal will be “like mom’s,” he said.
Assigned to Bravo Company of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, Wilson said he enlisted in July 2012 and has been on the fort since this past August.
Saying he dropped out of college because he wasn’t ready and was “in a dead-end job” and was heading for “the loser trail,” the solder said he decided on the Army to serve the nation, like his great-grandfather did during World War II and his grandfather did during the Vietnam War.
As he spoke between fork fulls of food, other people filed into the dining facility. Many were soldiers, others were families of soldiers and some retirees and their families. Keeping with the holiday tradition, officers and senior noncommissioned officers served the food.
For Wilson home wasn’t far off.
Wednesday was his mom’s birthday.
“I’m going to call her as soon as I’m done eating,” he said.
But, it will not be until February before he heads to his home hearth.
On the 27th of that month he will turn 21 and he said, “I promised mom I will be home for my birthday.”
So he will miss family Christmas this year as well.
But today, Wilson will be sitting down for another Thanksgiving meal, as he said, “a buddy has invited me to his house for dinner.”
Christmas, 1982, my wife and I were getting ready for reassignment from Ft. Huachuca to Germany and the packers were coming the next day. We had our Christmas dinner in the consolidated dining facility aka mess hall.
Yup, the life of the soldier = separation from family = mess hall holiday meals. The one I remember is having Thanksgiving dinner in Crete, Greece because my unit had been sent there for our annual live fire of the LANCE missile. The battery commander made sure to bring our own cooks and food along so we’d not have to suffer the indifferent cooking of the NATO contractor, Olympic Airways. My wife talked her folks into buying her an airline ticket home so she spent from Thanksgiving until after Christmas in the States.
Sierra Vista is a very friendly place. Went there ever other week for years. Liked the people. Especially the Ham community.
Never been on the Fort, but think I would like it. I know I liked the troops I met.
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