Thanksgiving at sea 1944 from a member of the 15th AF

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November 23, 1944 Thanksgiving Day
Got up pretty early on this our 11th day out to sea. Went up on deck for a few hours of fresh air. A guy can really get stale laying down on his bunk. I just waited there until chow time. But the strangest things happen in the Army, and it happened now. After being on the water for 11 days and not even having a pass to see a woman since the 27th of Oct., the Army gets the bright idea to give us a short-arm. And, so they did. Chow came immediately after. That is after sweating out the line for 1 hour and 15 minutes. However, it sure was worth it. We had a swell Thanksgiving dinner. First of all, we didn't have to use our mess kits. We were served on trays with lots of turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, corn, pickles, coffee, crackers, and ice cream. After that, we were given a bag consisting of fruit, shelled nuts, candy and cigarettes. All in all, it was a pretty swell holiday, considering the fact that we were in European waters. At night I got another big surprise as far as the Army goes. Or maybe it was the Navy. As we were sailing along the coast of North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea, all the ships had their sailing lights on and we were all allowed to stay on deck and smoke. That's a pretty good sign of how well we got the European waters under control. We weren't even allowed to smoke in American waters after 5:15. That was blackout time. Anyway, Sid, Ernie, and I sat up on deck and grabbed for a couple of hours. According to the map, we should pass Tunisia and Bizerte some time tonight. We're supposed to arrive at our destination on Saturday night. Anyway, I came down to the bunk about 9:00 p.m. and wrote a couple of letters home and then, to the sack.
From the journal of Moe Shapiro, my father.

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