Several years ago, I was post padding on a military forum, and the topic was what was everyone's most memorable Thanksgiving. Everyone had such great memories of Thanksgivings past with their families and friends. I had alotta those same memories, but I couldn't get what happened Thanksgiving Day, 1970 outta my head.

I was on patrol with my recon team, RT California, on that part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail that passed from North Vietnam thru Laos into South Vietnam. We'd been walking right down the middle of the HCMT for acuppola hours, looking for enemy storage depots, and had found none.

We decided to take a security break under a big tree right nextta the HCMT and take turns eating our lunch. When it was my turn, I opened up a C-Ration can of Turkey Loaf that I'd been sandbaggin for Thanksgiving Day, along with a bag of indigenous rice, a C-Ration can of peaches, and a can of C-Ration pound cake.

As I sat there under that tree eating my "feast", I reflected on the incongruity of it all, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. And I jes couldn't stop thinkin, "Man, it jes doesn't get any better'n this."

Today, I count that day amongst my most cherised Thanksgiving memories, and I Thank God for the men and women of our armed services who won't be with their families for the holidays cuz they're in harms way.

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!

- served up by Nomad @ 11:11 AM