What Thanksgiving Means to Me

Thanksgiving is not for another four or five days, so I realize that I am a little early with this Thanksgiving message.
It may take some extra time and planning to shop for, cook for and set the table for the one or two extra people your family may want to share this year's Thanksgiving meal with.
I am talking about inviting one or two -- or more -- of our troops to your home this Thanksgiving, especially if you are at an overseas location and fortunate enough to have your loved ones with you.
Wherever you are, there are plenty of lonely Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen who would love to spend a few hours with you and your family sharing not only a home-cooked meal, but also enjoying the warmth, family and, yes, the bitter-sweet memories of home, that such an occasion will bring.
How do I know this?
Well, on Thanksgiving of 1942, one Dominic Cirincione, an Italian immigrant who ran a fruit stand on Mission Avenue in the Mission District of San Francisco, invited two GIs who were stationed at the nearby Cow Palace to dinner at his home to join his wife and daughter. "Dom" became lifelong friends with one of those soldiers and actually became the godfather to his first born son who met him as an adult for the first time after returning from US Air Force duty in Japan in 1969. 
That GI, who never forgot that kindness,was Private Wesley E "Pete" Dobson, who went on to become a SSgt, US Army Air Corps, Tailgunner, B25J by the name of "Tuff Stuff", recipient of the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters for distinguished air combat in the Rome Arno Air Campaign. He and Isabelle Adams Dobson gave birth to their first son the following summer at St Luke's Hospital near San Francisco's Mission District.  Dom was one of the very first to hold his godson, Danny Boy, as he called me!!
Have a Very Meaningful Thanksgiving,

Captain W Dan Dobson
United States Air Force
1967-1972