41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team

Story by Spc. Anita VanderMolen

This Thanksgiving the landscape is different than the green hills and rainy skies of Oregon. One sees T-walls, tactical vehicles and dust. The view is a monochromatic brown. The weather is cool but not crisp and clean. It is definitely not Oregon. But for now, it is home for the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team Soldiers serving in Iraq.

The annual Thanksgiving celebration is not quite as traditional as before. The family get-together has become a time to share a meal with buddies. The food is colorful and a remembrance of home. Regardless of the holiday, Soldiers still put in working hours.

Spc. Alan Harper of Medford and Spc. Mitchell Hensley of Hood River, both convoy security team members of Alpha Co. 1/186 IN were busy in the morning working on their vehicles.
"Just doing some maintenance," Spc. Hensley said. "Some other guys just got back this morning. We try not to roll out on Thanksgiving."

Alpha Co may have taken it a little easier today but the workers in the dining facilities have been working hard to do their best to make the American holiday special for the Soldiers.

Festive decorations and role-playing Indians made the chow halls lively. The variety of foods besides the traditional items included carved ham, roast beef, and crab legs.

"It's my first time for crab legs [at Thanksgiving]," said Cpl. Jason Gonzalez, of with Bravo Co 2/162IN.

Although the meal was appreciated, something was still missing.

"It's the same stuff as home: stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and turkey," Hensley said, "but it's not quite like Mom's."

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