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Couple buys Christmas dinner for Pendleton

TULSA, Okla. — “Somebody took care of my Marine, so I wanted to make sure I was going to take care of someone else’s Marine,” said George Gibbs, describing why he and his wife Rachel spent about $4,500 on food and shipping costs to give more than 70 Marines at Camp Pendleton, Calif., a barbecue spread for their Christmas dinner.

The Tulsa couple said they wanted to do something special for Marines who did not go home for Christmas.

The Gibbs’ son is Lance Cpl. George Edward Gibbs, who was at Camp Pendleton last year. The younger Gibbs now is stationed at Monterey, Calif. He learned that Camp Pendleton’s Marines in training would not be able to return home for the holidays and passed that information on to his parents.

George Gibbs, an attorney, said his wife, an obstetrician and gynecologist, and a friend, Joyce Orrell of Valley Center, Calif., came up with the idea to help the Marines during a visit with the Gibbs’ son in California in October.

“Those guys perform a service for us,” George Gibbs said. “You can’t believe what Marines do for our country.”

The owner of Albert G’s barbecue restaurant in Tulsa prepared 200 pounds of meat last week for the meal. The restaurant’s owner, Chuck Gawey, said the process took several days.

“We prepared 40 pounds of chopped brisket, 40 pounds of pulled pork, 40 pounds of bologna and 15 slabs of ribs,” said Gawey, who said the meal cost $1,500 even though he cut Gibbs a break on the price.

Gibbs packed up the meat and sauce to prepare it for shipping. Sending it overnight via United Parcel Service cost about $2,600, Gibbs said. The remaining expenses were for buying salads, bread and dessert on the California end of the meal, he said.

The food is being kept in school freezers in Valley Center and will be reheated at Camp Pendleton, he said. Gibbs has arranged for volunteers in California to prepare the meal for the Marines.