THANKSGIVING

(27NOV2008)

This is the most significant holiday I’ve been in theater for.

In Iraq I celebrated Easter and the 4^th of July, as well as a few smaller holidays, but nothing to rival Thanksgiving or – soon – Christmas and New Year’s. For the most part, it does not feel like Thanksgiving. For one thing, we still have to work. Most soldiers are given time off after lunch, but the war moves on most of us remain busy with emails, reports, and other responsibilities.

And, of course, there’s a distinct lack of my family in Afghanistan – something that Thanksgiving in the States usually involves.

But it’s not a day like every other, and we do enjoy some degree of frivolity, a break from the usual grind. I spend most of the morning running errands with two new colleagues of mine, showing them around the base and getting them in-processed and issued passes.

I settle for a late lunch, meeting up with some of my Army colleagues around 1300. We go to a DFAC that I don’t normally eat at because it’s on the other side of post from where I live, but it’s the one closest to the BDE we fall under and it’s where the majority of my coworkers work and live.

The military has a tradition on Thanksgiving that many from the command will serve the food to the rest of the unit – in our case, the BDE CDR, CSM, BTN CDR, and a few other LTCs and MAJs work the serving line and wish us a happy holiday as they dole out the grub. I find it charming, and they must be enjoying it as well as they serve much longer than the 30 minutes I’d heard they’d be working.

I had arrived with one of my buddies from the BDE, but it’s very crowded and I soon lose him in the bustle. I end up grabbing a table with a SGT I’d not previously met but who works with one of my friends at the BTN. We chat about home and family – there are a slew of common questions we all ask each other when we meet, to include “Where are you from back home?” and “How long have you been here?” I don’t make a lifelong friend, but we have a good chat over our meals and he’ll be a familiar face for the rest of my deployment (or his, I suppose, since mine will last longer).

The food is actually pretty good, though I admit it may just be in comparison to what I eat every other day. The turkey, especially, is a cut above the standard turkey they occasionally serve us here. The fixins are mostly the normal variety, though I’d never seen cranberry sauce here. More than any of that, though, is that everyone is noticeably friendlier, and I soak in the relaxed atmosphere.

When I finish eating, I find some of my colleagues and sit with them to chat for a bit. I’d not previously met one of the girls at the table, and she’s showing pictures on her camera of an R&R trip she recently took to Qatar. The military provides 4-day passes to Qatar for military and military civilians (but not contractors), as long as your orders are for at least 179 days. They fly you direct from BAF to Qatar and you spend a few days in a small compound with organized trips off-post to go shopping, to the beach, or on cultural tours.

I had considered taking such a trip from Iraq last year, but could not find the free time, and I suspect it will be the same during my stay here, though I’d like the opportunity to explore a new country. I may have another way to do that, however, as my job may take me to Qatar in the course of the next year.

I then return to my side of the post, where I work out of my quarters for the rest of the afternoon before grabbing dinner at my usual DFAC. The menu is largely the same as lunch at the other chow hall, which is to say it’s better than usual, and I can’t help but have another heaping helping of turkey and beef.

It’s crowded again, and I sit with a young sailor and, though I have brought a book I’m reading, we chat for a good hour while enjoying the spread. It’s the kind of conversation that makes me feel old, as he asks me about my job and I give him career advice for when he leaves the service. It has not been very long that I’ve been in any position to give career advice, but I guess jumping around from job to job and settling on something I enjoy gives me some credibility in that arena. Many active military (and contractors, for that matter) seek out civilian military jobs so in that sense, too, I have accomplished something they would like to.


After he leaves, I walk around the DFAC taking pictures of some of the decorations. Many soldiers are doing the same, and I offer to take pictures of them if they want. A couple of Egyptian soldiers take me up on it, asking me to stand in with them at one point, and I reflect how alien this holiday must be for them and for all of the other foreign troops and workers.

I would see one of the Egyptians a couple of days later in the DFAC, and he stops at my table to shake my hand and ask me how I’m doing.

No family here, but we often settle for the familiar.

DFAC = Dining FACility
BDE = Brigade
BDE CDR = Brigade Commander
CSM = Command Sergeant Major
BTN CDR = Battalion Commander
LTC = Lieutenant Colonel
MAJ = Major
SGT = Sergeant
R&R = Rest and Relaxation
BAF = Bagram Air Field