Two Meetings with President Bush

I was in Iraq in support of the first rotation into the country following the invasion, which I had also taken part in. My unit was scheduled to be at the Baghdad Airport facility for the Thanksgiving holiday in 2003. Upon arrival, the first thing we noticed was the presence of Secret Service personnel—something I had never seen in a war zone before.

When I went around the corner to the food line, there was President George W. Bush serving slices of turkey. When I got in front of him, he looked up and said, “Chaplain, you must have one of the hardest jobs here.” I told him it had been tough and thanked him for my turkey. He then said, “Laura and I will be praying for you, and I would really love to talk to you.”

Little did I know that on Feb. 4, 2005, as I was lying on my bed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center following my first major injury (81mm mortar blast 5 meters behind me), I was awakened to the shuffle of people coming in, and there to my surprise was President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.

The president pinned my citations for the award of the Bronze Star with Combat “V” (Valor in Combat) and my Purple Heart on my blanket. They prayed for me (no press), then he looked at me and said, “You look like someone I know.” I reminded him about Thanksgiving, and we talked for the next half hour.

—Colonel Collins, Greenwood, South Carolina

Turkey the Upside-Down Way

When I was young, my grandpa was in charge of cooking the turkey. The party got going early, and he had a few too many when he put the turkey in the oven. My grandma went to check on the timer to see if it popped and found he had put the turkey in upside down!

She thought Thanksgiving would be ruined, but they took the turkey out and carved it anyway. Lo and behold, it was the BEST turkey they had ever eaten!

Now we know from cooking shows that the reason it was so good is that the breast side was cooking in all the fat at the bottom of the pan. A happy accident—and all of our family still cooks our turkeys upside down!

—Laura, Sarasota, Florida

Whipped Cream Chaos

I had just married into a big family, and we were all gathered around a long table for Thanksgiving. When dessert time came, pumpkin pie was passed around, followed by a can of Reddi-Wip.

My husband was sitting across from his older brother, who shook the can, tilted it, and sprayed—but instead of landing on the pie, the whipped cream bounced across the surface, shot over the table, and landed all over my husband. It even left a whipped-cream silhouette of him on the wall behind.

He hated that it got brought up every year afterward—but everyone else thought it was hilarious.

—Susan

Too Many Cooks, Too Much Gravy

One Thanksgiving, my grandmother, mother, and two aunts were doing all the cooking. My mom asked my dad if he’d help make the gravy outside on the backyard BBQ range.

He got it going, and things were going well—until he got distracted being a host. While he was away, my grandfather came by, thought the gravy wasn’t thick enough, and added more flour. Then my uncle stopped by and decided it needed something else, so he tossed in some giblets and more flour.

When my dad returned, he noticed the gravy had doubled in size. Without thinking much of it, he just poured it into a bigger pot. That’s when my grandfather passed by again, looked in the new pot, and—convinced there still wasn’t enough—added more water and flour.

By the time dinner was served, we had over a gallon of gravy. But it didn’t go to waste! My mom sent everyone home with a jar, and the dogs happily finished the rest. The best part? Everyone actually liked it. Turns out, too many cooks didn’t spoil the gravy after all—it just made it unforgettable.

—C. Boyd, South Carolina

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