Jason gives us a first-hand account of what Thanksgiving was like in Iraq:

None of the posts had young Marines at them; Officers and Staff NCOs manned them all. The command decided that the young Marines were going to have the night off to get some good chow. It was unbelievable, and a wonderful site. The leadership took charge and took care of the younger Marines. This filled me with a pride indescribable with words.

Heartwarming in and of itself, but there's a sub-context. By 1969, things like this were not coming out of Vietnam. Quite the opposite. By 1970, the soldier reports were so negative even Nixon's machinations couldn't cover them up. So to hear that (in my opinion*) less than 6 months before we begin a serious pull out, the troops's morale is high is a very fine sign indeed.

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* Hmm? What? Since when is a blogger not allowed to declare opinions without a shred of supporting evidence? Eh? Well, aside from the way we yanked the plug on the occupation authority when the transfer happened, there's this.