Scott's View: Celebrating Thanksgiving, at Home and Away

Veterans Advantage co-founder and CEO Scott Higgins (left), seen here with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller at the Marine Corps Birthday Gala on the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City.

This Thanksgiving, we’d like to acknowledge our deployed U.S. military members, who often go without the usual comforts we associate with this holiday. Instead, they gather in chow halls, mess tents or even simpler settings, sometimes rationing their food supplies or fashioning their own versions of a Thanksgiving meal.

At the Marine Corps Birthday Gala on the U.S.S Intrepid in New York City, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller recalled one of his own deployments, sharing a powerful anecdote about how he and his fellow troops saved peanut butter and jelly from their MREs to use as frosting on their Thanksgiving Day pound cakes. In their own small way, they celebrated a great American tradition, despite being so far from home.

This Thanksgiving, we feel overwhelming gratitude for our U.S. armed forces and veterans – individuals who have sacrificed so that we can enjoy our many comforts. We also feel profound gratitude for our military families, who often sacrifice just as much as their service members. So whether you’re grateful for your own military family member, your friends, your health or just a day to spend with the people you love, we can all take a minute this Thanksgiving to acknowledge our nation’s defenders.

From our military family to yours, happy Thanksgiving.