11-26-14
On November 14, 1943, the heavy cruiser USS Boston, full of 18 and 19 year-old freshly minted sailors, slipped her lines and headed off to the War in the Pacific. The ship transited the Panama Canal en route to Pearl Harbor (by way of San Francisco) on November 25. The crew celebrated the first Thanksgiving aboard the brand-new ship somewhere off the coast of California on November 27.
The second Thanksgiving was celebrated in dry-dock anchorage at Manus Island, south of the equator. By then, the battle-hardened men had endured many months of non-stop combat action. They were far, far, far away from home. Many more tough months lie ahead.
Their third Thanksgiving was celebrated off the eastern shores of Japan. The war was over, but their duty was not. Many of the original crew was still on board, and many would spend their third Christmas on the ship before the final reurn home in January 1946.
Three Thanksgivings, three Christmases. Those holidays would never be the same.