This is the second Thanksgiving I have spent in the Army. Last year was at the beginning of Basic Training. This year was in Korea. I usually spend it with my wonderful friends that I call my family back home.
Although I spent the majority of the day in my small barracks room, this Thanksgiving was still ironic. I'll tell you why. The past few days have been a little hectic with the work hours because of a North Korean incident (I will elaborate more on that later). Considering our recent work hours, my roommate (Michael Smart) and I spent the majority of the day relaxing.
My roommate is a black Muslim from New York. I am a white Christian from Tennessee. He is 6"7... I am 5"9. He played professional basketball... I would probably choose Ultimate Frisbee over basketball. He is loud... I am quiet. He LOVES scary movies... I LOATHE them. Needless to say, we could not be any more different. Here is the kicker; We are great friends! We rely on each other more than we know it. We both miss home more than anything. Smart has a wife and kid back in New York. I couldn't imagine being in his position. We both strive to better ourselves rather than staying stagnant. It is so easy to fall into that category of stagnant life here. You know... just going through the motions rather than really moving forward. We both work really hard to be productive for our future civilian lives. I didn't mind spending my Thanksgiving with a friend... trading corny scary stories from our childhood.
To all of you back home... I love you. Happy Thanksgiving! Keep seeking my King... Jesus Christ!
In case you have not seen the top stories in the news yet, here is what I mean by an "incident with North Korea." Straight from Yahoo news:
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – South Korea's president ordered more troops to a front-line island and dumped his defense minister as the country grappled with lapses in its response to a deadly North Korean artillery strike.
In scenes reminiscent of the Korean War 60 years ago, dazed residents of Yeonpyeong island foraged through blackened rubble Thursday for pieces of their lives and lugged their possessions down eerily deserted streets strewn with bent metal after Tuesday's hail of artillery. The barrage darkened skies, set off fierce blazes, killed four South Koreans and raised fears of an escalation that could lead to full-scale war.
"It was a sea of fire," resident Lee In-ku said, recalling the flames that rolled through the streets of this island that is home to military bases as well as a fishing community famous for its catches of crab. The spit of land is just seven miles (11 kilometers) from North Korea, but had only six pieces of artillery.
Despite warnings from North Korea that any new provocation would be met with more attacks, Washington and Seoul pushed ahead with plans for military drills starting Sunday involving a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier in waters south of this week's skirmish.
The exercises will likely anger the North — the regime cited South Korean drills this week as the impetus behind its attack — but the president said the South could little afford to abandon such preparation now.
"We should not ease our sense of crisis in preparation for the possibility of another provocation by North Korea," spokesman Hong Sang-pyo quoted President Lee Myung-bak as saying. "A provocation like this can recur any time."
"Embrace"
