Tanks for the Memories

I drag this pic out every Thanksgiving, to remind me of what I'm thankful for (so much) and to remind that there's so much going on around the world no matter if we slow down for holiday or not. This is me, in Iraq on Thanksgiving 2003. My team went to a farmer in the village, that were had surrounded and searching that week, and purchased some a chicken (I'm holding it) and two geese from him to bring back to the camp and let the 3ACR tankers and the 3rdID attached unit have something special for Thanksgiving dinner. Some country boys in the unit reluctantly killed and cleaned the birds and after a slow cook time of the chicken over the open fire we wised up and used the M1-A2 Abrams tank engine's exhaust (350-400 degrees with no fumes) to cook the geese. We'd been using it to dry out our clothes (that's what I'm doing in the pic) that were wet from the week of rain and found it plenty hot for dryer duty. We put them each on a metal fence post and rotated them until done. It wasn't that great tasting or anything, but it was a ceremonial meal and a way for us to do something special for the holiday. That's what's great about the American soldier, adaptation and creativity. So, happy thanksgiving. Here's hoping you don't have to use a tank to cook your bird this year.