Obama's First Wartime Thanksgiving

"Here it is, another Thanksgiving Day that I won't be home," wrote U.S. Army Private Thomas D. Curry. "I hope it is the last one this way."

It was Nov. 23, 1944. The ground was snowy and frozen in and around the murderous Huntgen Forest, at the gates of Nazi Germany.

"We still have a lot to be thankful for," Curry wrote his mother.

"Some of the things that happen over here don't seem possible."

Indeed: Curry's 83rd Infantry Division suffered 23,980 casualties during the 241 days it fought from Omaha Beach to within 60 miles of Berlin -- typical for most American units. Whole units were shredded, with a 170 per cent casualty rate overall.

Last month I stood on Omaha Beach, contemplating the numbers. And thinking about President Obama's first wartime Thanksgiving.

Read more here.

(Huffington Post, Nov. 23, 2009)