Thanksgiving on the Front Lines: No Break for Troops in Afghanistan

Thanksgiving on the Front Lines: No Break for Troops in Afghanistan

By MIKE BOETTCHER -- Zormat, Afghanistan
Nov. 24, 2011
It's business as usual for the Oklahoma National Guard in eastern Afghanistan.

U.S. soldiers and their Afghan police partners show off a Taliban machine gun they captured during a patrol today. They also uncovered a cache of Taliban weapons, all before the Thanksgiving meal.

"We found some IED [Improvised Explosive Device] making materials. Some HME [homemade explosives], and a couple of mortar rounds. It was a good find," one National Guardsman told ABC News.

Americans across the world are celebrating Thanksgiving today, but there is no break for troops on the front lines.

Oklahoma's 45th Brigade has faced a particularly tough fight in east-central Afghanistan. Since it fully deployed last July, 14 of its team have been killed in action. That included the first woman from Oklahoma to die on the battlefied, Pfc. Sarina Butcher, a 19-year-old mother.The previous brigade from Iowa saw four of its soldiers killed in action while it was deployed there.
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