Wheeling post commander prepares to welcome Navy recruits for another Thanksgiving dinner

AMVETS Post 66 in Wheeling has hosted Navy recruits on Thanksgiving for at least the last four decades, and for half that time, Tony Altieri has been the one to oversee the massive volunteer effort that helps give the young sailors a sense of home while they're away.

Altieri, who has served as commander of the post at 700 McHenry Road since 1996, is getting ready for the annual Adopt-A-Sailor program on Thanksgiving, when the post hosts recruits from Great Lakes Naval Station for a day featuring a turkey dinner, video games and phone calls home.

It's one of the post's biggest volunteer efforts, next to the monthly bingo games members host at the Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago.

Those ways of giving back promote patriotism and help honor fellow veterans, Altieri says.

"You can't help not coming away with a warm feeling," said the 80-year-old veteran of the Army National Guard. "It's a gratifying experience."

On Thanksgiving, the post will open its doors to an expected 50 or so recruits, who will spend the day hanging out there as a respite from the demands of Navy boot camp.

They'll have the opportunity to call home using cellphones provided by the post, play video games, toss bags, shoot pool, watch TV and surf the internet.

The Thanksgiving dinner includes turkeys prepared by a local restaurant and side dishes cooked at the post by a crew of about 10 volunteers.

"They don't go back to base hungry," Altieri says of the recruits.

Last year, Post 66 was among 23 organizations in the area that hosted more than 1,250 recruits from Great Lakes.

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