Editor’s note: A version of this article was first published in 2015.
For many, Thanksgiving is a time when friends and family gather around a table to drink too heavily, eat too much, and shout loudly over one another — or at least that’s the case in my family. We build new memories and reminisce about the people in life that make us grateful.
While serving in the Marines and spending Thanksgivings away from home, I came to realize what many before me already knew — that the holiday doesn’t change much.
For the countless American men and women who have missed the holidays while abroad in times of war and peace, and for the many away this year, here’s a collection of photos, images, and videos of an American Thanksgiving at war.
The Civil War
This sketch, by American illustrator Alfred Waud, depicts a Thanksgiving celebration at a Union camp in 1861.
World War I
Service members celebrate the end of World War I with a Thanksgiving feast on Nov. 28, 1918.
World War II
U.S. Army Sgt. Frank Shiborski, a 50 cal. machine gunner from Detroit, Michigan, takes a moment to enjoy a Thanksgiving turkey drumstick on Nov 22, 1944.
Also from World War II…
This video, called “Turkey and Trimmings” by Army filmmakers, shows U.S. soldiers in Italy preparing Thanksgiving dinner in 1944.
Korean War
Marines serving in Korea enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in this undated photo.
Vietnam War
Sgt. 1st Class Lonnie Mitchell prepares a Thanksgiving Day dinner for Special Forces soldiers at Xom Cat, Vietnam. The unit’s only source of resupply was by helicopter and the video follows Mitchell from the kitchen all the way to the isolated hilltop where they enjoy their holiday meal on Nov. 22, 1966.
The Gulf War
A British soldier is served Thanksgiving Day dinner at the 1st Marine Division combat center in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield on Nov. 23, 1990.
The Iraq War
Soldiers with the 30th Brigade Combat Team of the North Carolina National Guard wait in line for Thanksgiving dinner at Forward Operating Base Cobra in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, on Nov. 25, 2004.
The War in Afghanistan
Soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, hunker around a small fire to eat their Thanksgiving meal at Combat Outpost Cherkatah, in Khost province, Afghanistan, on Nov. 26, 2009.