This week's episode of The Sporkful podcast is up! Listen through the player or iTunes/Podcasts app. (And please subscribe!)

Thanksgiving is this week, and one of the many things we’re thankful for is our men and women in uniform.

A lot of them will spend this holiday far from their families -- but hopefully not far from a good meal.

Of course, if you’re in a war zone, finding that good meal gets a lot harder.

That was the situation for Charles Hedrick, who served in the marines during the first Gulf War.

After he volunteered to go to the front lines, he wound up in a metal shipping box (below) in the Saudi desert -- not far from Kuwait, where the fighting was happening.

Charles and the four other guys living in that box were told to await orders. After a few weeks of killing time, they heard a rumor about a civilian settlement nearby, where they could do laundry.

So they set out walking into the desert with their guns and their dirty laundry.

What did Charles and his friends find out there in the Saudi desert?

Charles lived to tell the tale (of course), but the experience changed him forever. Listen in to the full episode to hear what happened.

Plus, veterans call in to tell us about their memorable meals in combat -- from fishing with grenades in World War II and rooftop barbecues in Vietnam to bartering with Girl Scout cookies in Iraq after the U.S. invasion.

Interstitial music in this episode by Black Label Music:

- "Bandstand Extended" by Jack Ventimiglia

- "Can You Dig It" by Cullen Fitzpatrick

- "False Alarm" by Hayley Briasco

- "Broken Castle" by Bijou Basil

- "Asphalt Gods" by Kenneth J. Brahmstedt

- "New Hot Schtick" by Jack Ventimiglia

- "Marimba Feels Good" by Stephen Sullivan

- "Pong" by Kenneth J. Brahmstedt

- "Can't Bring Me Down" by Jack Ventimiglia

Photos: FlickrCC/Manhhai, FlickrCC/Dvids, and courtesy of Charles Hedrick and Gabe DiMaio