Troops and Contractors experience Thanksgiving in Afghanistan a little different this year

Like many Americans back home, troops deployed to Afghanistan are celebrating Thanksgiving differently this year because of the coronavirus.

Bases have typically covered the dining facilities with seasonal decorations, while senior officers and enlisted leaders carved and served turkey and roast beef. Bands performed live music.

In 2020, meals will be put in doggie bags and troops will eat them at a safe distance from one another.

“This year’s Thanksgiving meal will be ’to-go‘ only and socially-distanced to prevent the spread of [the coronavirus],” NATO’s U.S.-led Resolute Support mission said in an emailed statement. “However, the holiday is no less important or meaningful to those of us serving to prevent safe havens for terror, which threaten our homeland.”

Americans are being warned to avoid large family gatherings this holiday, as coronavirus cases continue to rise, with more than 250,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, over 45,000 people have tested positive for the virus and 1,712 have died from it, the country’s health ministry has said. The number of people who have contracted the virus but not been tested is thought to be much higher.

The Pentagon has refused to disclose the number of infected coalition troops and contractors in the country for security reasons, although there have been several reports of infections throughout the year.

There are currently about 4,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, with that number set to drop to 2,500 by mid-January. Under a U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February, all foreign forces could withdraw from the country by May, if certain conditions are met.

Original story PHILLIP WALTER WELLMAN