COLUMBIA, S.C. — Many are preparing to feed their families Thursday for Thanksgiving dinner, but how do you go about feeding more than 10,000 people at once? Dining staff at Fort Jackson accept that challenge every year, preparing an early Thanksgiving meal for military men and women.
“We're away from family, but then again, we're making a new family here. It's like almost as a new tradition with our fellow soldiers,” Private First Class Roger Carlson said.
As part of a long standing tradition, thousands of soldiers and trainees sat down to break bread together as they celebrated the holiday early at Fort Jackson.
“My family grew because of the Army, and so whether you have your inner circle family or your outer circle family, that's part of the Army. It's a great way to really fellowship,” Major General Daryl Hood said.
As a key part of this tradition, meals were served by commanders and senior officers of each company.
“What better way than to have your leader demonstrate by serving a meal," Hood said. "Breaking bread has been something that we've done for centuries. we continue to do that today, even in an operational environment."
From turkey to mac and cheese, all the Thanksgiving classics were served to soldiers.
“Usually, I'm the main cook, so this means a lot to me, because this is now my new family, and it means the world to me to have our drill sergeant that we've gotten to know since day one service, and be proud of us,” Private First Class Erikka Glenn said.
For many this is their first Thanksgiving away from home and while they are missing their families, they say they're thankful to serve their country.
"It was not an easy ride, but I'm so proud of myself that I made it because as many times i wanted to quit, but all i kept thinking about was my family and how proud my kids would be of me and so I'm glad I made it here. I'm proud to be a soldier, a United States Army soldier,” Glenn said.
Roughly 28,000 pounds of food was served at Fort Jackson Wednesday.