Nearly 9 million people served in the U.S. armed forces, with nearly 3 million in-country, during the Vietnam War years. The magnitude of service and sacrifice of the Vietnam generation cannot be overstated. It's no surprise, then, that when we asked for your stories about Thanksgiving while serving, Vietnam-era veterans answered our call in droves.
Our readers poured their hearts out, sharing with us priceless stories about their holiday experiences during their time in the military. From Thanksgivings spent at training and at war, to those on the ocean, in the air and on the ground, here are 12 of their Thanksgivings to remember.
Some selections have been edited for length and clarity.
A Foraged Feast
"After attending Navigator School at Mather AFB [in California] in 1971 I was sent to Survival School at Fairchild AFB [in Washington state]. We were in the field on Thanksgiving Day. We shared a rabbit and some greens that we harvested! Great memory!"
-- David, Air Force
A Permanent Impression
"I was in AIT [advanced infantry training] at Fort McClellan [in Alabama] in 1967, and one of my classmates and friends was from Anniston. She came from a family of nine kids, and seven of them were active duty at that time, with only the two youngest still at home. Her parents were dirt poor. They knew from their own kids' experience how lonely it could be to be away from family at Thanksgiving, so they told their daughter she could invite five friends over for a homemade Thanksgiving dinner. She was Black, and I was white. She chose two other Black girls and two other white girls: We had all been very close friends at the base.
"Her father drove out that morning and picked us up. We had a wonderful time, and I ate one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I ever had. We were all playing out in their front yard until it was time to head back to the base that evening. None of us thought anything about it, even though we had been warned not to ever get caught in the company of a Black man while in Anniston.
"We figured, I guess, that surely did not apply to one of our parents being with us. We were told that if we were under 21 and got arrested for being in the presence of a Black man, we would not be released to the Army. Our parents would have to travel to Anniston to bail us out.
"We had not gone very far when my friend's dad had sounded very nervous and told us we were being followed by a deputy sheriff's car. Shortly after that, another sheriff's car joined the first in following us back to the base. We were all very scared.
"We did get back to the base without being arrested, but we found out later that her parents' home started having crosses burned in their yard, and the parents were getting all sorts of threats for the 'crime' of treating three white girls as if they were family on Thanksgiving Day. It made a definite and permanent impression on me as to how bad things still were for Black people in Alabama in 1967."
-- Gena, Army
Another Reason for Thanksgiving
"On Thanksgiving Day 1962, my buddies and I, along with our commander, spent the day bringing in the first well to produce water for the 9th Log Command in Korat, Thailand. We were all quite wet and muddy by the time we finished, but the unit now had a source of good water. It was a very deep well."
-- Eugene, Air Force
A Lukewarm Reception
"Thanksgiving Day, 1962: On our way to a four-month TDY at Chateaux, France, from Dover AFB [in Delaware], after some 12 hours in the air on a C-124, we landed at Lajes Field in the Azores [in Portugal] for fuel and had a barely warm turkey dinner as the mess hall was officially closed for the day."
-- Joel, Air Force
In-Flight Meal
"It was 1972, and I was eating an in-flight meal in a B-52 on my way from Guam to our target in Vietnam."
-- Doug, Air Force
Unintended Consequences
"I arrived in Vietnam [in] early November 1968. One of my major duties was to ride as escort on helicopter resupply missions to deliver mail and equipment and to transport people. The day before Thanksgiving 1968, I departed early morning on a round robin delivering mail, equipment and frozen turkeys to the camps. At my first A Camp, I delivered the mail and turkey and picked up their outgoing goods. The camp also loaded three deceased Vietnamese CIDG [Civilian Irregular Defense Group] soldiers to be returned to their home villages.
"I loaded the three wooden boxes containing the deceased warriors and reloaded the turkeys and supplies. Mid-morning on Thanksgiving Day, [we] started receiving radio transmissions from the camps that the turkeys were bad and were stinking up the team rooms. I did not realize that the frozen and wrapped turkeys had absorbed the odor of the deceased CIDG and then would become so gross-smelling once they were in the oven. Lesson learned and lots of apologies to my buddies."
-- Eldon, Army
Twice in One Day
"We crossed the International Dateline and celebrated two Thanksgivings in 1968."
-- Frank, Navy
A True Feast
"Thanksgiving, 1970. Several of us secured a three-day stand down at Chu Lai [Air Base], RVN. We've been eating C-rations for six months. After getting off the chopper, we were waiting to find out where we would be put up. Someone mentioned that it was Thanksgiving Day. One of the guys knew exactly where to get the grub. A few minutes later we 'borrowed' a Jeep, and he took us to the 23rd Evac Hospital. He raved all the way there about their food. We walked in a side door and the sight of all that food plus the smell stopped us in our tracks. We got a little teary-eyed. The mess sergeant noticed the four of us just standing there in amazement. He came over, put his arms around us, and said, 'Been a while, guys, huh?' He guided us through the line and told us what to eat. He knew we would try to eat it all and didn't want us to get sick."
-- Joe, Army
A Family Affair
"Thanksgiving 1968, Qui Nhon, RVN. My father was a 'civilian employee' of the federal government in Vietnam. For that Thanksgiving, he brought my mother into Vietnam from Taipei, Taiwan. They ate the noon meal with our unit. My mom acted like a surrogate mother to all the guys. That was the only Thanksgiving I had with my parents during my four-year Navy enlistment."
-- Mike, Navy
Nearly Missed It
"In November of 1975, I was TDY between AIT at Fort Lee, Virginia [now Fort Gregg-Adams] to Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia [now Fort Moore] on Thanksgiving Day. When I arrived ... I walked into the mess hall to see nobody at all, only a couple of cooks cleaning up. They told me to come in and they would fix me up a plate of Thanksgiving turkey. Man, they gave me the biggest plate of all the fixings of a back-home Thanksgiving dinner. I sat down in the empty mess hall all by myself and enjoyed the heck out of every bit of it, even pumpkin pie."
-- Dan, Army
Special Delivery
"My helicopter was assigned to deliver hot Thanksgiving meals to all the [forward bases] in our [area of operation]. It was the best 12 hours of flying l spent during my entire tour of duty."
-- Anonymous, Army
Full Circle
"Reported into Travis AFB [in California] on Thanksgiving Day, 1970 [for] traveling to Vietnam. Thanksgiving Day, 1971, left Cam Ranh at noon and arrived at Seattle-Tacoma Airport at 9 AM Thanksgiving Day!"
-- Richard, Army
Do you have a memorable Thanksgiving story? Share it with us, and we just might add it to this article.
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