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Hundreds of S.D. Marines Will Spend Thanksgiving with Host Families

Hundreds of families around San Diego and Orange Counties will have a pair of young Marines from Camp Pendleton to join them for Thanksgiving this year. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Hundreds of S.D. Marines Will Spend Thanksgiving with Host Families

Hundreds of families around San Diego and Orange Counties will have a pair of young Marines from Camp Pendleton to join them for Thanksgiving this year. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Marines in the school of infantry whose families lives within a 100 miles of Camp Pendleton are allowed to be picked up and taken home for Thanksgiving. But 800 young marines who’ve come from further a field won't miss out. They’ll get picked up by a family they’ve never met and whisked away for eight hours of rest and relaxation plus a Thanksgiving feast. Dawn Baker of the Armed Services YMCA says for many, this is their first foray off base.

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Baker: They fly in to go to boot camp, they’re bused up to go to training at the school of infantry -  most of the time this is the first experience they have of even seeing this part of southern California.

Baker says for many of the young men this is also the first holiday they have ever spent away from home. Many will be assigned to a unit before they see their families again. Alison St John, KPBS News.