By Jerome Pearson
November 20, 2022
Thanksgiving 1982 -40 years ago
Where did I spend it and what did I do? Let me think about that for a few minutes. Oh yes, I remember now. I remember it as if it were only yesterday. Ha, ha!
In 1982 I was stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany. Thanksgiving of that year would be the 3rd and last Thanksgiving I spent in Germany. But it would be the first time I would spend thanksgiving with friends from my High School in Summerton, South Carolina.
My friends John and Janie Green had recently moved from the city of Bremerhaven in Northern Germany to the city of Pirmasens in Southern Germany. Now they were within a 2-hour driving distance from me as opposed to the 8 hours they were before. Pirmasens is also only 7 miles from the French border.
Another classmate, Wayne (Norman) Billie, was stationed in the town of Baumholder. Baumholder was approximately midway between Wiesbaden and Pirmasens.
John and Janie invited both Norman and me to spend Thanksgiving and the weekend with them. Janie was also from our high school, but two classes behind us. But what was important was that were all from Scott’s Branch High, SBS.
I showed up the day before in my Mercedes and Norman arrived that same evening driving a sports car, British Triumph. At the time we had all been in Germany for several years and it was so wonderful spending thanksgiving with people with whom we could reminisce about our younger days and about home in general. There is no place like home. Janie could fit right in because she knew the same people, and I had known Janie before I knew either John or Norman. Janie and I also attended the same elementary school and her sister, Bertha, was in every class with me from first grade through 7th. I was also the best man at their wedding only months before we all left for Germany. Their oldest son had just been born nearly 15 months earlier in Bremerhaven.
And of course, Janie did all the cooking because she insisted on it. I think John might have helped a bit. I volunteered to help but we all knew that was probably not the best idea. We spent Thanksgiving morning reminiscing and watching movies. I recall us watching two movies. It might have been more, but I remember two. We watched the movie “I spit on your grave” wish was a gruesome yet revengeful movie about a young lady getting retribution for what violently happened to her. And then we watched one of my favorite James Bond movies, “For Your Eyes Only!” Throughout each movie, we were talking our heads off, mostly about home.
The dinner was excellent, and we ate as southerners eat. In addition to Turkey and Ham, we probably had at least 5 starches. We did not care if the food was good for us. We only cared that it was good.
The next day, John had to work. For some reason, unlike Norman and me, John did not have off that day even though we were all in the army. While John was working, Norman invited me to ride with him back to his base back in Baumholder. I had been to Baumholder only once previously. It was about an hour both ways. What I recall about that trip is Norman’s driving. As mentioned earlier, Norman was driving a British sports car, and he was hitting those steep curves, going up and down hills, and only gearing down at the last minute. Once negotiating each curve, he was speeding off again until we hit another curve, as we made our way up the mountains to Baumholder. Not only were driving up a mountain, but we were also coming close to side rails, where the slope downward was absolutely scary. My heart was dropping to my stomach each time we came to a curve. I never told Norman how freighted I was until many years later.
There was a large PX on base and wanted to do some shopping. The word PX stands for Post Exchange. The PXs are usually on-base American stores that are used by American Military personnel and their families. They sell food and household items below what you pay if you shopped off-base. You can also shop at German stores, but the price would be higher.
Norman and I returned to Pirmasens later that afternoon and the driving was no less scary. John had returned from work by the time we got back. We then continued with festivities, eating leftovers, shooting the breeze, and just simply being so happy to share this experience together while being away from home.
Thanksgiving is always in the heart, and you can celebrate it anywhere your heart chooses to go.
And if you are like me, and never forget the details, you can then celebrate it forever.
Jerome Pearson
Sunday, November 20, 2022