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Ride Report for Ride Captain Jonathan

What an awesome day this turned out to be.  Thanksgiving day… cold, windy…  and two busloads of recruits from Great Lakes Naval Training Center… about to get a Thanksgiving meal, a chance to call home, time to relax… and a day away from Boot Camp!

We picked up two busloads of sailors, and gave them a proper escort to the AMVETS location in Wheeling, IL who really pulled out all the stops for this.  They spent the entire Thanksgiving day with the recruits, and went above and beyond to show these sailors that regular folks do care, they do matter, and we’re all here to support them.  We can’t thank our friends of AMVETS enough, for the continuous support and appreciation they show for active-duty and veterans.  Entire families spent their holiday with the recruits.

At first, the recruits didn’t realize what was happening.  But then, the realization set in that this escort was for THEM.  They knew the Thanksgiving dinner was provided, but were very surprised by the escort.  To them, it meant the world.

Interesting point…  Great Lakes is located outside Chicago, IL.  It’s the ONLY Boot Camp the Navy has now.  For all the size of Chicago, we asked how many of these 100 recruits were from this area?  NONE of them were.  That drove home the realization that these young service members were all far from home this holiday, and the reception was well received!

One recruit quoted to me:  “I don’t know what others are doing today… but this is better than Disneyland!”

Thanks again to the WWR and AMVETS!  Well done.

p.s. – (Can’t wait to do this next year!)