Giving thanks…in Iraq

Nov 29, 2008 at 7:36 AM
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By Staff Sgt. Joshua S. Higgins

CAMP RAMADI, Iraq (November 28, 2008) – Thanksgiving Day aboard Camp Ramadi, Iraq, started out like most days—Marines woke up early and went right to work. Some Marines with Regimental Combat Team 1 even said they forgot the holiday had arrived until someone greeted them with the stereotypical phrase, “Happy Thanksgiving!” But by mid-day, holiday festivities were in full swing.

For lunch, the dining facility served turkey and ham, accompanied by dressing, corn-on-the-cob, yams and most other side dishes associated with a typical holiday meal. I got half-way through the serving line and my plate was piled high. Thankfully there are to-go boxes by the front door.

Dessert is something the facility is never short on, but today was—well, for a lack of better words—ridiculous. There was pumpkin pie, apple pie, cherry pie, carrot cake, chocolate cake, cakes with turkeys drawn with frosting, cobblers, more flavors of ice cream to name, and finally, a pineapple cut in half with chunks of cake and pineapple mixed up inside and covered with whipped cream, topped with cherries. Most of the service members enjoying the latter treat were usually sharing, passing the concoction around and sampling it a few bites at a time.

Never missing an opportunity to decorate, the dining facility staff hung Thanksgiving decorations throughout. Of course there were several paper mache turkeys, but one oddity that seemed a little out of place was a bread carving of an alligator. I still have no idea what that had to do with giving thanks.
Some service members had the pleasure of eating with one of several distinguished visitors who made their way around to camps, forward operating bases and combat outposts.

Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the Multinational Forces-Iraq commander, visited and ate with service members here, taking the opportunity to thank them for their sacrifices. He reminded everyone that people back home in the U.S. are thinking about us and are thankful for the job we are doing.

One of those thoughtful Americans is song writer and country music artist Aaron Tippin, who made stops throughout Iraq during the week and performed here for over an hour as part of his annual tour visiting deployed service members.

Tippin performed songs including ‘My Blue Angel’, ‘Drill Here, Drill Now’, ‘You’ve Got to Stand for Something’, and crowd favorite ‘Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagles Fly’. After the show he signed autographs and posed for photos with fans.

And what would Thanksgiving Day be without some good, old-fashioned backyard American football? Or in this case, a flag football tournament dubbed the Camp Ramadi Turkey Bowl.

Sixteen teams competed throughout the week, and the event culminated Thanksgiving Day with the championship game between my team (RCT-1) and the Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery Regiment.

All week long we hoped for a final match-up against an Army team. The camp is primarily split between Army and Marines, so playing the championship against our Army brothers would continue a long-running rivalry and give the winner bragging rights at least until the next tournament.

During the first half, scoring went back and forth nearly as much as the “trash talking.” But in the second half, our defense held them to only one score while our offense continued piling on the points. The final score was Marines 38, Army 18, but more importantly everyone seemed to have a good time and the games gave us all a feel of home for the holiday.

Serving abroad far away from our families can be very difficult, especially during the holidays when most of us are accustomed to large family gatherings. But thanks to staff at the camps dining facility and the Morale, Welfare and Recreation office; visits from officials and others who took time out of their busy schedules; and the all-important care packages sent by loved ones and complete strangers we are able to keep our spirits up and focus on our mission.

The end of our tour is in sight, and I think the majority of us are looking beyond the holidays to our return home sometime in January. But as long as we are here we will continue to make the best of our time.