GRAVY, GUNS, AND GRATITUDE: THANKSGIVING IN THE VIETNAM WAR AND TODAY

In November of 1968, Ho Chi Minh prepared for the TET Offensive. The year would end with more American lives lost than any other in the war.

Before the assault on the coastal cities — Saigon foremost among them — there were attacks on our command posts deep inland. It was clever, pulling our defenses from the coast and leaving those cities wide open. Every field unit stood in the path of daily incursions.

Time was different then. It had a way of slipping by unnoticed. Days ran together, weeks lost their meaning, and months blurred into one another. By the time Thanksgiving came around, nothing had changed. We were locked in, loaded up, and moving every damn day, the same as before.

Basecamps sent out their menus — turkey with gravy, mashed and glazed sweet potatoes, buttered vegetables, and hot rolls. Some units in the field got theirs dropped in by the same Huey helicopters that took us out to meet the enemy. It was just another miserable day in a godforsaken place for the rest of us and a reminder of what we’d left behind.

More than 56 years have passed since I served in the U.S. Army on the battlefields of Vietnam. I want to take this opportunity to wish my readers and supporters a Happy, Healthy, and Memorable Thanksgiving — 2024. My buddies and I…