Family and Friends,
Thanksgiving has come and gone with new surprises every day. The biggest one being that the President of the United States called our ship on Thanksgiving Day! Apparently the White House took a list of military members that were deployed and had families waiting at home for them, and randomly drew names. One of them happened to be my friend Russell. The CO kept it a big secret until the last second, and it was a huge success. President Bush asked him to pass on to all of the troops that he can't thank us enough for our service and sacrifice.
We had a traditional meal onboard the ship, and although we were missing family, the friends that surrounded us suficed. My friends and I decided to get the holiday spirit really rolling so we started a big family argument over a couple of tables, each person taking on a role (mom, dad, 7-year old Timmy, Uncle Bill and Aunt Todd, etc...) Over the course of 15 minutes, we got louder and louder until there were two threatened divorces, someone was passed out under the Christmas tree drunk off of cheap, boxed wine, Timmy had burst into tears at least 3 times when all he wanted was another helping of turkey, etc... It was quite hilarious and afterwards I reminded everyone who was sitting around us that there were things about the holidays that they didn't miss, and maybe life wasn't so dismal and lonely right now. I think that it went over well.
Hope you all had a good time with friends and family too.
Love you all,
-Mark
P.S. Attached is the picture from my E-5 frocking ceremony a couple of days ago.
