Thanksgiving dinner at Pensacola NAS

PENSACOLA, Fla. - It was a feast for the troops at Pensacola Naval Aviation Station. The USO fed more than 1,000 service members on Thanksgiving day.

There was a line that ran out the door. Hungry troops who are far away from their homes were waiting for the next best thing, a homemade Thanksgiving meal.

"I'm so excited, I can't wait. I haven't eaten all day," said E2 Richard Volpe.

Volpe is from Arizona. It's his first Thanksgiving away from home.

"I'm actually kind of lonely but I still have all these guys to be with," said Volpe.

It's taken the USO months to prepare the meal. They said seeing the men and women's faces when they load up their plates makes it all worth it.

"We love these guys, they're doing for us, what we can't do for ourselves right now," said Sandi Kosowski who has volunteered with the USO for three years.

It takes a lot of food and work to feed 1,000 people. 70 turkeys, 250 pounds of potatoes and 40 pounds of cranberry are just a few things necessary to make sure the service members are full.

"If you know the story of loaves and fishes, just think that and we'll have enough," said Kosawski.

They know with these service members that one thing they won't have to worry about is leftovers.

This is the second year the USO has served a Thanksgiving meal and they're feeding twice as many people.