Harris Teeter, MillerCoors, Operation Homefront Give DC National Guard Big Thanksgiving Thank You

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Army Spc. Frederick Quaye, Spc. Peter Biney and Staff Sgt. Anthony Hicks distribute Thanksgiving dinners donated by Harris Teeter, MillerCoors and Operation Homefront to D.C. Guard families Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, DC (11/23/2011)(readMedia)-- Usually, service members are the ones asked to give. In the decade since Sept.11, 2001, over 500 members of the DC National Guard have deployed, many of them multiple times, and know all too well what it feels like to spend Thanksgiving on a flightline or commiserating with buddies in a chow hall in Iraq or Afghanistan.

This year, some of those same service members will have one less thing to worry about as they savor the chance to spend Thanksgiving with friends and family. Many family members who have loved ones deployed overseas will receive that same gift: A fully cooked thanksgiving dinner.

In what has become a tradition three years running, 400 soldiers and airmen of the District of Columbia National Guard received Thanksgiving dinners through a partnership with Harris Teeter, MillerCoors and Operation Homefront Tuesday at the National Guard Armory on East Capitol.

"We realize that a Thanksgiving dinner is not an appropriate way to express our thanks," Said Dan Marett, Regional Vice President for Harris Teeter. "We do this as a gesture of our thanks, but we also do other things. This year we are giving a quarter of a million dollars to the Wounded Warrior Project."

Vivian Dietrich, President of Operation Homefront, DC Metro, expressed that their support of the DC National Guard was not limited to their time spent on deployments. The Thanksgiving dinners are part of efforts to support National Guard members and their families in their service whenever they need it.

"Times are tough for our military, and multiple deployments, on top of a bad economy, have made it especially hard for their families. On behalf of those who sacrifice so much for us, we thank Harris Teeter for its generous support." said Dietrich.

"Our support is meager compared to what you give back," said Dan Perez of MillerCoors.

Some service members said they would continue the Thanksgiving spirit by sharing their dinners. Air Force Staff Sgt. Duane K. Bailey, recently returned from a deployment to Iraq, said he would share his dinner with his elderly aunt who would have trouble preparing a meal for herself.

"Thank you for what you do to gift us the freedoms we enjoy." Said Marett.