Fritz Swyers
Location: Okinawa, Japan; Branch: Navy
There are a few things Fritz Swyers remembers about being deployed during the holidays. As a sailor, he recalls standing in line for grub and being handed a pack of cigarettes as a gift for the holidays. The cigarettes were from WWII, and when sailors lit up, worms would burst out of the butts. He quit smoking.
Several days before Thanksgiving, Swyers was cooking in the kitchen listening to the “squawk box” when he and others received the news that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.
“You could see a big downturn,” he said of the holiday spirit. “It just kinda knocked the wind out of their sails.”
But the crew carried on, and there was mashed potatoes, turkey and all the trimmings for Thanksgiving that year. Even though he wasn’t home, he remembered that at least the food tasted like back home.
Aside from a special holiday dinner, Swyers remarked that deployed sailors always looked forward to mail call, but it wasn’t always certain that packages would arrive in time for the holidays.
Two or three months would sometimes roll by without a single piece of mail being delivered. It was the holidays which made Swyers yearn to be home.
“It’s a lot different today,” he said of holiday deployment.
Douglas Dutter
Locations: Bahrain; Philippines; middle of the Indian Ocean; Branch: Navy
The Christmas lights always made the inside of the ship a little bit brighter, especially when mail call came way late. It didn’t happen just once, but multiple times while Douglas Dutter was deployed to sea.
“Letters came late; packages came late,” he said. “The cookies were still good. The candy was a little hard.”
But it was always worth the wait. Groups of sailors would gather around berthing and sit to watch each other open packages. They’d share amongst themselves. Sometimes Dutter would pick out what he wanted and leave a box behind for others to enjoy. He still is involved in sending out calling cards and packages to those who are deployed during the holidays because he remembers how much it meant to him when he was away from home. But, Dutter admits he is a little jealous of the sailors nowadays.
“They are spoiled now,” he said. “They’ve got cell phones and Skype. They have more now and use technology to get as close as they can.”
Today’s deployments weren’t like they were back then. When pulling into port, sailors knew to get their name on the phone list. Each one had exactly three minutes to call home. Despite missing family and not being able to talk with loved ones long, Dutter warmly recalled his memories of Christmas in the Philippines. Tiny children sang Christmas carols to the incoming sailors. Santa Claus greeted sailors on the pier.
Back on the ship, the heaviest guy was dressed as Santa. And, one holiday, some lucky sailors had a chance to meet with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.
It was the turkey and mashed potatoes that always reminded Dutter of home.
“We always had ham and turkey,” he said.
Now, as a retired vet, Dutter does his best to make sure deployed troops still get a little piece of home. When his son-in-law deployed, he was sure to send goodies, just like he knows he appreciated when he was away.
Voney McKee
Location: North of Saigon; Branch: Army, 2 years; Army Reserves, 26 years
Voney McKee always had the normal Thanksgiving dinner growing up: mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, turkey and homemade rolls. But, despite being deployed during turkey day, he can’t remember what he ate for supper the holiday he was gone. He spent a few holidays in Vietnam; he was there for 13 months.
“I can’t remember that meal, so I must have been flying,” said the retired Command Sgt. Major. “The days all run together.”
Usually the only time soldiers could get off the boats and explore was when ships were due for maintenance. Other than that, the most exciting things one would see were the walls inside the ship. Except for the one time Bob Hope flew over to visit troops. That brought a lot of excitement, McKee recalled. Hope flew over for his annual “Bob Hope Christmas Show” as a way to bring some entertainment to troops in an otherwise grim situation.
“We had a chance to guard Bob Hope,” he said, a huge smile spreading across his face.
For Christmas, visiting with friends, enjoying a traditional meal and throwing around a football was a soldier’s idea of a good time while deployed, McKee said.
“There was not TV to speak of. We did have a radio,” he said.
But most of the stations were in Vietnamese.
When the holidays came around, it wasn’t his own bed or entertainment that McKee missed the most. What he missed dearly was his family, including a twin brother. Even though he volunteered for the draft for two years and spent a good amount of time away from home, McKee loved it. The draft took him off on Feb. 6, 1967.
“I enjoyed my job,” he said. “I knew God was watching over me.”
Glen Kent
Location: Vietnam, Lane Army Airfield; Branch: Army
As a helicopter mechanic for three years in the Army, Glen Kent had work to do all the time. Even though there was always something to be done, Kent said the dining halls usually celebrated with the specialty food of the holiday. Kent spent Christmas in Vietnam one year. The other two Christmases he spent on United States soil in Montana and Oklahoma.
“The mess halls used to try to present a traditional holiday meal,” he said. “I don’t remember anything in particular about the ones in Vietnam.”
His mother did send him care packages, which was always a nice surprise and change from the day-to-day work schedule.
For him, the isolation of being away from loved ones was the hardest part of the holidays. For currently deployed troops, he highly recommends staying in touch as much as possible. Back then, means of communication was only by “snail mail” which wasn’t and still isn’t the most desirable way to communicate, he said.
“It’d take a week or 10 days to get a letter one way or another,” he said.
While there, Kent tried to keep his focus on why he was drafted instead of the fact that he was missing a family meal back home.
“I went to do what I was supposed to when I was supposed to,” he said. “Everyone pays something for that experience, some pay an awful lot for it.”