Thanksgiving in Mosul: US Troops Enjoy Turkey Near ISIS Stronghold

— -- Just south of Mosul, U.S. troops deployed in Iraq came together to celebrate Thanksgiving with turkey and trimmings today, according to Reuters.

Some of the American soldiers working to free the city that has become an ISIS stronghold also took time today to talk about things they were thankful for.

"I want to tell my family, you know, to be thankful that all these people out here, just be thankful for being alive, that's all," Joe Hamilton, a U.S. Marine at the Qayyara West Airfield Base, told Reuters today.

U.S. Servicewoman Amanda Harrison added, "It is my first time away from home for Thanksgiving so definitely a little hard, but I will be able to call the family on FaceTime later, and I'll be able to share the holiday with them that way, so."

She continued: "I have a lot of friends here and lots of great co-workers, so that makes it easier."

Michael Fisher, a U.S. soldier, said, "It is always hard being away from your family on Thanksgiving of course, you miss your loved ones that home of course, but being here, just being with all the new people that you have the camaraderie with, you know being able to be here, we're training and advising with the Afghans, coming here eating for dinner tonight I think it is such a great next opportunity outside of being with your family on this holiday."

The U.S. troops in Mosul are assisting in a campaign to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS. Much of the U.S. military presence in Iraq has been focused on training and advising Iraq's security forces in order to defeat ISIS and take back the cities controlled by the group.

On Tuesday, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the United Nations' secretary-general, said that over a month into the Mosul military operation, more than 68,000 Iraqis have been displaced from Mosul.