As the holiday season approaches, we are grateful for the service members and military families spending this time deployed, OCONUS, or far from the people and traditions they love most. While many families gather around familiar tables this time of year, countless military households are creating new traditions thousands of miles from “home.”

To honor their resilience and celebrate the spirit of the military community, we reached out to several military spouses who have spent Thanksgiving overseas. Their reflections show not only how they adapted, but how they built meaningful memories—proving that holidays in the military are less about location and more about the people who gather around the table.

Embracing a New Community as Her Own

Military spouse Dee Dee Eberle shared memories of her first Thanksgiving as a newly married spouse stationed in Germany, as featured on her blog My Mid Life Kitchen:

“For instance, for my first Thanksgiving as a married chick, we had just moved to Germany the month prior. And being the extrovert that I am, I proceeded to invite every person we met for that first month to our house for Thanksgiving dinner. By that day, the guest count was 17, most of whom I really didn’t even know. I had already worked myself into a tizzy trying to recreate the Thanksgivings I grew up with, which generally consisted of about 30 people for a sit-down dinner (no buffet for us, no sir!).

I insisted on doing everything myself (martyr syndrome much?), which meant I’d spent the previous week rearranging everything from the extra tables to the linens to the hand towels in the powder room.

I had sticky notes on every serving piece, and even a timeline of when each item was to be started in my Fisher-Price-sized kitchen (Ever tried cooking a 20lb turkey in a tiny, standard European oven? I don’t recommend it). I thought I was ready for anything. Bring it!”

That first overseas Thanksgiving was chaotic, imperfect, and unforgettable for Dee Dee. And like many military families, she discovered that embracing new friends often becomes the foundation for the most memorable holidays.

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New Traditions That Become Lifelong Favorites

Marine Corps spouse Kalyn McReary spent several holidays stationed in Okinawa, Japan, where she found that distance from home created space for new traditions to take root:

“Celebrating holidays so far from home can definitely be a downside to this lifestyle, but as with most things, it is what you make it. And honestly, in all my years as a military spouse, our OCONUS Thanksgivings are some of my most favorite memories. It’s really special, because not only do you get to share your traditions with friends, but you get to experience theirs too, and even make new ones!

In Okinawa, one new tradition we made with friends was breaking out the karaoke machine after dinner and singing together, probably far too late into the night! If you ask my kids now, they’d probably say that’s their favorite part of Thanksgiving… the karaoke.

We are lucky to have never been alone in our celebrations. It’s very comforting to know you have people going through the same things, because everyone is away from “home.” But you make it work, because that’s what we do! And in our experience, the result has been pretty great.”

For Kalyn, the heart of every overseas Thanksgiving was the shared experience of being away from home but not alone—because the military community stepped in to fill the gap.

Sharing Traditions With Neighbors Who Become Family

My other friend and fellow military spouse from our time together in the Naval Aviation community, Danielle Heitman, also shared her fond memories of her time stationed in Japan.

One of her favorite parts was introducing her Japanese neighbors to their American traditions, and vice versa.

This immersive experience became one of their favorite parts of their time spent as a family of five stationed overseas:

“Being stationed in Japan, and so far from our families, meant holidays could feel lonely, but our military community very quickly became family. We loved hosting Thanksgiving each year, and watching the gathering grow as it became a patchwork of everyone’s favorite recipes and traditions.

What started as a small dinner eventually turned into a whole-neighborhood event, complete with a kids’ turkey trot during our final year. We were honored to share the holiday with some of our Japanese neighbors as well, and were excited for the chance to share with them what Thanksgiving looks and feels like in our homes.

On a holiday centered around gratitude, celebrating Thanksgiving overseas left us with a new perspective on what to be grateful for!”

A Warm Welcome Amid a PCS

My friend and fellow Naval Aviation spouse, Jenny McKenna, reflected on her time spent hosted by new friends shortly after a PCS move:

“I’ll never forget the generosity a fellow Navy family provided to us during the holidays. We were in the middle of PCS-ing to a new duty station and arrived two days before Thanksgiving, with our young children in tow.

Though my husband missed several Thanksgivings due to deployments and work-ups, the kids and I were lucky to always be with family for the holidays.

This was going to be our first time away from family, and our dear friends, the Hurst family, invited us to join their family for the holiday. It was an amazing day with games for the kids, a feast for all, and a much-needed break for us from unpacking moving boxes!”

Her experience reflects an essential truth of military life: the community consistently shows up when it matters most.

Navigating Holidays With a Deployed Spouse—But Never Alone

Last but not least, my longtime friend and fellow military spouse from the Naval Aviation community, Santina Rivera, also thoughtfully took the time to reflect on her holidays spent overseas as a new mom without any family nearby:

“We lived in Japan for 4 years, and Rich was on a forward-deployed ship. That meant most holidays were spent alone. What I realized that very first Thanksgiving in Japan without Rich was that I wasn’t alone. I had all of these spouses from so many different backgrounds coming together to share their family traditions from back home.

For a girl who grew up in Northeast PA, it was a shock to eat Jiffy Cornbread casserole made by a very Southern spouse. The best part? I immediately asked her for the recipe and have made it every year since that first Thanksgiving in Japan.

My kids assume it’s just a longtime family tradition (I guess I should tell them the origin of that casserole). I still look back fondly on those holidays we spent “alone.”

Santina's story captures the essence of OCONUS holidays—unexpected traditions becoming cherished ones.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Through the stories of these resilient military spouses, one message rings clear: Thanksgiving overseas isn’t defined by distance from home but by the people who gather with you.

Whether hosting 17 strangers in Germany, singing karaoke in Okinawa, sharing traditions with Japanese neighbors, unpacking during a PCS, or building new memories during a deployment, military families continue to show that the heart of the holiday is the community they form—wherever the military sends them.

So, Happy Holidays—and cheers to the military families who make every duty station feel like home.

Suggested reads:

• DLA Brings Thanksgiving to Troops Around the World
• Six Years Strong: How Giving Tuesday Military Is Still Turning Kindness Into a Movement
• TSA Honor Lane: Fast-Track Security for Military Families