WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- The Army had shipped more than 1.2 million pounds of holiday trimmings to American soldiers in the Middle East by Nov. 21 in advance of Thanksgiving.
The shipment included more than 230,000 lbs of turkey (mostly white meat); 17,000 gallons of eggnog; 100,000 fruit cakes; 32,000 pumpkin pies; 52,000 pounds of stuffing, 211,000 pounds of shrimp; 311,000 pounds of boneless ham; 340,000 pounds of beef and 95,000 pounds of crab legs.
There are over 200,000 soldiers deployed in the region, including in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq. This will be the fourth holiday season the United States has been at war since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
More than 700,000 U.S. military personnel have been deployed to the twin wars over the last four years, many of them more than once. There are more than 143,000 military reservists now mobilized for active duty.
"I am struck, in this holiday season, by the enormous sacrifice of the young men and women over here -- the things that they're doing on a daily basis on our behalf, as a nation; the complexity of the task of helping develop the Iraqi security forces fighting an insurgency, helping development -- develop a government, helping to reconstruct a country devastated by over 30 years of war and oppression. And they are absolutely magnificent," said Lt. Gen. John Vines, the U.S. commander of troops in Iraq, on Tuesday.
U.S. President George W. Bush is scheduled to spend Thanksgiving with his family in Crawford, Texas. The White House has not annouced plans for a visit to troops at war, although those trips are usually not announced in advance for security reasons.
