Service & Sacrifice: Giving Thanks to Our Troops
Thousands of U.S. military service members are spending Thanksgiving apart from their loved ones.
U.S. Army soldiers and family members stationed at the Grafenwoehr Training Area receive Thanksgiving turkeys and meals on November 18, 2023, in Germany.
As we gather with our loved ones for Thanksgiving dinner this year, tens of thousands of military families wish they could enjoy the same privilege.
In Iraq and Syria, more than 3,400 brave U.S. troops have been under almost constant attack since October 17. As of this writing, the latest strike targeting American forces was early Tuesday, when an Iran-backed terrorist proxy group caused “minor” injuries and damage by firing close-range ballistic missiles at al-Asad air base in Iraq.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military hit back. According to Fox News, an AC-130 gunship “carried out an airstrike on a vehicle in the proximity of the base, killing an estimated five to eight” terrorists.
The Fox report also notes that Tuesday’s missile attack at al-Asad was the 66th enemy strike on American forces since October 17. “Several” coalition troops were believed to be injured, with more than 60 Americans hurt overall in Iraq and Syria during the last five weeks.
Four U.S. airstrikes are known to have been launched in retaliation since October 17, according to Fox. Three were carried out in Syria before Tuesday’s counterattack in Iraq.
September/October 2023 Month in Review: The Defeat ISIS Mission in Iraq and Syria
TAMPA, Fla. – United States Central Command, along with coalition and other partners, conducted a total of 79 D-ISIS operations resulting in 13 ISIS operatives killed and 78 detained.
Among those… pic.twitter.com/IPXGIGwZ48
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 20, 2023
Before the terrorist massacre by Hamas in Israel and the ensuing Iranian state-sponsored drone and rocket attacks aimed at coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, U.S. troops were already busy fighting ISIS in both countries.
On Monday, U.S. Central Command announced that coalition troops killed 13 ISIS terrorists in September and October while capturing 78 more.
“Among those captured by U.S. coalition and partner forces were prominent ISIS leaders and members to include: fighters, facilitators, and members of attack and sleeper cells plotting to release ISIS prisoners held in local prisons with the intent of replenishing their ranks,” the CENTCOM statement said.
“We are committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla later added.
Following a time-honored @USArmy tradition, senior leaders from the Vicenza Military Community served #Soldiers & their families at the #thanksgiving meal on Caserma Ederle. 🦃
Tell us what your favorite part of Thanksgiving is 👇🏾@USAGItaly @173rdAbnBde @USArmyEURAF #VMC pic.twitter.com/6aJEev9Wlq
— U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (@SETAF_Africa) November 21, 2023
With approximately 100,000 U.S. troops also serving in Europe and many other parts of the world, Thanksgiving and the entire holiday season can be difficult for military families. On Tuesday, I watched this touching video of U.S. Army soldiers sending home greetings to their loved ones from their base in Powidz, Poland.
“I just wanted to say that I miss my family. It’s been a long journey here, but we’re getting through it … we’re about almost halfway done,” said U.S. Army Pfc. Ramen Ramos. “We’ve got a lot of good things going on here. I do miss everyone at home: my mom, my dad, I miss all my sisters. I really am just praying for you all, and I hope everything’s going good at home. I’ll see you all soon.”
As Pfc. Ramos prays for his family, let’s all join together and pray for this brave soldier and all of his brothers and sisters in arms. From Europe and Africa to Asia and the Middle East, these American warriors have volunteered to spend holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas away from their loved ones in order to keep our families safe.
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Starting with Thanksgiving Day, let’s renew our pledge to honor and remember our nation’s service members, veterans and military families — particularly those who have lost loved ones like the relatives of five special operations soldiers killed in a Mediterranean Sea helicopter crash earlier this month. As President Abraham Lincoln said during the height of the Civil War, Thanksgiving is a time to pray, reflect and be grateful.
“I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens,” President Lincoln proclaimed in 1863. “And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.”
Tom Sileo is a contributing senior editor of The Stream. He is the author of the forthcoming I Have Your Back, the recently released Be Bold and co-author of Three Wise Men, Brothers Forever, 8 Seconds of Courage and Fire in My Eyes. Follow Tom on X @TSileo and The Stream at @Streamdotorg.
