Many of the 196 Navy recruits are spending their first Thanksgiving away from family.
"The whole thing that they're doing at the Villa Park post is try to show you that people out there really do care about you and what you do on a daily basis to protect the freedoms we enjoy," said Bill Wolfe, VFW State Commander.
The crowd is four times larger than the usual 50 Navy recruits, but Villa Park VFW Post 2801didn't hesitate and set more places at the table.
"I went on our local cable channel and got on and announced we need help, we need to support these recruits, and overwhelmingly people just started showing up and wanting to be part of this," said Dennis Geiseman VFW Post 2801 Commander.
Besides the big feed of turkey and all the trimmings- plus some, the volunteers at the VFW offered up their cell phones so recruits could call home.
"Right now this is my family from my division. It's all my family. You get to have a Thanksgiving with family to replace the family we're missing at home," said Donnell Nixon, Missouri.
Other VFW posts also hosted dinners for recruits.
