Forty recruits training at the Great Lake Naval Base, who are about a thousand miles away from home, were treated to a Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings at the American Legion hall in Chicago Ridge Thursday.
“I know a lot of you aren’t able to see your family,” said Andy Lopez, vice commander of Legion Post 1160 and a Navy veteran, while addressing the recruits. “We’re your family.”
Many of the recruits are just out of high school and have spent about two months in basic training, during which they have had no access to phones, internet or even chocolate.
So, Chicago Ridge volunteers provided those amenities during the visit, making for some very emotional phone calls home, to places that included Alaska, California, Oregon, Florida, Georgia and South Texas.
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“It’s amazing,” said seaman recruit Hector Flores about the gesture. “Honestly, I’m overwhelmed, but it’s a good type overwhelming.”
Flores is from Southern California, where he said his father raised him and his sister after a divorce. He said his dad is starting to have health issues, such as hearing loss, so he joined the Navy in order to provide a better life for his family.
Seaman recruit William Rodriguez of Texas said he also joined the Navy to provide a better life for his family, being a single father of two.
“I think it’s great,” Rodriguez said of the Thanksgiving gathering. “They (volunteers) could be at home enjoying themselves, but they took the time to support us.”
Dozens of volunteers organized and provided for the event, which included a motorcycle escort of the recruits’ bus from the base from groups such as the Illinois Patriot Guard, Twisted Aces and American Lawmen, as well as Chicago Ridge police and firefighters.
Volunteer Vickie Dunbek said many residents cooked and donated the food, which included six turkeys, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs and other sides.
She said her family also provided TVs and video game systems to entertain the recruits, many of whom are still teenagers.
The annual Thanksgiving event for the recruits was started eight years ago by Chicago Ridge Police Chief Robert Pyznarski and his wife, Debby, during his first year in the position.
The couple formed the ARMS organization (Arms Reaching Many in Society) to oversee the event.
Robert Pyznarski said organizers have tweaked things over the years, now knowing that what the recruits want most is to call home before they sit down to eat.
He said Verizon provided 40 cell phones for the event, and 20 laptops were loaned by volunteers so recruits could Skype video call home.
Pyznarski said the video game systems and chocolate offerings were also new additions after learning what recruits wanted.
He said they were inspired to create the event after an experience their son Bryan had while he was in basic training with the Marines at a base in California.
Robert Pyznarski said they discovered too late that their son had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving until a local California family invited him to their home.
Pyznarski said he and his wife were so thankful for the gesture they decided to create the event as a way to pay it forward.
Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.