Fallujah, Iraq — Lt. Sven Jensen's U.S. Marines unit survived for weeks on military rations while living rough in Iraq's Fallujah, so he wrangled a truck Thursday and drove his men to the rear for a rare treat: Thanksgiving turkey and cranberry sauce.
While millions of Americans on the home front cheered good fortune and life's bounty Thursday, U.S. forces still under enemy fire in central Iraq sought a hot meal while remembering fallen comrades and offering thanks for the safety of their friends and family stateside.
U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry soldiers relax near a space heater after a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and ham was delivered Thursday to their outpost in Mosul, Iraq.
One Marine, Cpl. Matthew Hummel, forgot the day's celebration. "Days get to blur here, someone had to remind me this morning," said Hummel, 21, from Easley, S.C.
The Fallujah fight "was a nerve-racking experience, so I plan to give thanks that I'm still alive, that my friends and family are well back home, that my girl is waiting for me," he said.
U.S. forces guarding front lines in the Sunni Triangle where Iraq's insurgency rages frequently live in abandoned buildings, where they huddle against an early winter chill and excavate brown, plastic pouches of vacuum-packed meals for prized Skittles and M&Ms.
For Jensen, of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, it was time for a break. So he requisitioned a vehicle and drove 40 fellow Marines to a chow hall, where a cornucopia awaited.
U.S. Army soldiers gather for a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Forward Operating Base Marez dining facility in Mosul, Iraq. Thursday was the first opportunity in weeks for many troops to enjoy a hot meal.
"It means more than just the first cooked food they'll have in over two weeks," said Jensen, a 25-year-old from Cobb Mountain, Calif., surrounded by troops tucking into Thanksgiving plates.
Lance Cpl. Christopher Brungo waited impatiently all day in Iraq for 8 a.m. to strike in Mount Vernon, Va., so he could phone his mother for the first time in a month and wish her a happy Thanksgiving. Iraq is eight hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
"We got here Sept. 11, and that day is marked down as a real bad day," said Brungo, 19, a machine gunner on one of the Humvees that made the initial push into Fallujah when the assault began Nov. 8.
"But I'd much rather be here with the rest of my friends and buddies than at home where it's safe. Knowing that I'm doing something important here matters," Brungo said.
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