Memories of eating turkey in desert
U.S. Army Maj. Chris Parker recalls his last Thanksgiving, which was spent at a base in Kuwait, and his return to spend this year’s feast right at home.
The mess hall at an Army base in Kuwait isn’t exactly the prime setting for a feast. But for Maj. Chris Parker, it provided the backdrop for a unique Thanksgiving Day experience, because how many people can really say they’ve eaten turkey with an Australian in the desert.
Parker, who also teaches English at Coosa High, recalled his memory of last year’s Thanksgiving, when he was stationed in the Middle East during active duty, after being called on as an Army Reservist in July 2016.
It was a moment where he was overcome with a sense of really having something to be thankful for, he said, as he sat among his brothers and sisters in arms who were part of the U.S.-led coalition seeing to the destruction of the Islamic State.
All of them missed their families, he said, but, even if just for a couple of hours, they had something special in sharing a meal together. Spending holidays on active duty, something he has done multiple times over his over 20-year career, is all about “trying to find the little pieces of home to make the drudgery a little more tolerable,” he said.
“You make do,” he said, adding that it hurts to be away from family. “You just kinda take ’em with you.”
Though, in comparison with his previous tours, having an iPhone with Facetime readily available is a much-improved upgrade from $1.99 phone calls. However, Parker laughed about a story his daughter, a junior at Coosa High, told him. A fellow student had gone up to her and said her dad was on CNN the night before.
“I saw him, too,” Parker recalled her saying. “The first time I’ve seen him in months.”
Parker started back teaching Aug. 25, after over a year of serving as a public affairs officer, being the voice on the ground for the coalition. With things slowing down for Parker, as would be the case for anyone who went from fighting the Islamic State to closing achievement gaps and boosting literacy rates, he finds himself working for his 100 students instead of colonels and generals.
The transition from soldier to teacher was described by him with the analogy of trying to build a plane while it’s in the air, he said. Adjusting on the fly is always the case with teaching, finding out what works best with students as you go.
On one hand, Parker said he needed time to be with his family and friends upon his return, but he also hates to sit around. So getting right into the thick of things was fitting.
He started a journalism class this year, which is his pet project, and jumped into helping out his school’s One Act Play
and coaching cross country and now wrestling.
His latest tour was his most challenging yet, from the intensity of the work to the urgency of the fight. It was also the first time where he was put on such a stage in a high-profile position — he was moved back and forth between Iraq and Kuwait. He had previously never had to work one-on-one with reporters from national papers like The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal or foreign broadcast companies like the BBC.
This meant he had to be on the top of his game, regardless of how tired he was or if his Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 107 years.
It was a very interesting time around last Thanksgiving, he said, with questions floating in about the 2016 election’s impact on soldiers, to which he replied it doesn’t matter who wins because he is still putting on the same uniform.
Parker won’t be wearing his uniform at the dinner table today and it’s doubtful that an Aussie will show, but nonetheless, whether overseas or at home, there is plenty for him to be thankful for.