Taste of Home for Troops in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia — More than 16,000 American troops celebrated Thanksgiving with turkey, baked ham and apple pie, the first non-canned meal some of them had eaten in six months.
It was the first, and probably the last, Thanksgiving in Somalia for the U.S. soldiers, who are scheduled to leave by March 31.
The food, including 22,000 pounds of turkey and 2,000 pies, was shipped from the United States and Germany. Shrimp cocktail, giblet gravy, fried rice and other dishes also were on the menu.
Troops normally get a lunch of MRE, or meals ready to eat: a box of vacuum-packaged stews, cake, fruit, coffee and chewing gum. Dinner is T-rations, a kind of TV-dinner canned food, described as “not very exciting,” by Air Force Technical Sgt. Vic Johnston.
Before the meal, grace was said in thanks for keeping the troops safe. Eighteen American soldiers were killed Oct. 3 in clashes with Somali gunmen.
U.S. troops came to Somalia in December, 1992, to help the country out of a famine that has killed 350,000 people.
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