Navy recruits treated to Thanksgiving meal in Mount Prospect thanks to 'Adopt-A-Sailor' program

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (WLS) -- Some Navy recruits received a Thanksgiving meal thanks to the Adopt-A-Sailor program in the north suburbs.

The recruits have been in the boot program for nearly two months, which means no TV, no phones and no sweets.

But for one day they get a chance to just be a kid again.

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"It's like a different feeling cause I've always played video games my whole life, so like having that privilege to get back into video games," Navy Recruit Andres Pesina said. "I'm grateful."

Video games have on a whole new meaning for 19-year-old Pesina who's spent the last nine weeks in boot camp on a strict routine.

"If you take a look at them, you'll see how trim they are," Chairman of Navy Day Casey Bachara said. "They probably didn't look like that when they first started."

Nearly 100 navy recruits going through boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, also known as Naval Station Great Lakes, spent the day with access to phones, treats, games and a bit of magic.

Bachara said he brought in entertainment like a magician to give the recruits a chance to be celebrated.

"They deserve a day like this, because right now they're keeping us safe," Bachara said.

The day is invaluable for all-American commander of the Mount Prospect VFW Les Durov. He spent three years fighting in Vietnam.

"When I got back, I wasn't welcomed, I was mistreated," Durov said. "I didn't want to see that for the recruits. They don't deserve that. Everybody in the service deserves something.

Many of these young men and women are away from home for the first time in their lives.

"We're kind of like their adopted family here. We open up our home, and we basically entertain," Finance Officer American Legion Post 208 Stewart Abbiak said.

Veterans and volunteers from the neighborhood created a home away from home for the sailors, by cooking meals, donating computers, phones, their time and their advice.

The sailors are just one week away from graduating from boot camp and then they will be going to follow-on training where they train for the jobs they will do in the Navy.

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