In South Carolina Thursday, James Burroughs' family was gathering at his mother's home for Thanksgiving dinner.

It's where the submarine school student said he would be if he were home, but he couldn't be. So earlier this week, his wife, Dana, and their 17-month-old daughter, Clair, traveled from South Carolina, where they still live, to Connecticut.

On Thursday, with his wife to his right and his daughter to his left in a highchair, the family sat down at the Subvets Club in Groton City to have Thanksgiving dinner together.

Although it was his first Thanksgiving away from South Carolina, Burroughs said he was happy to have his family with him.

"I'm very thankful to have such a wonderful, healthy family," he said, pausing to kiss his daughter on her forehead and feed her pieces of turkey. He hadn't seen his daughter since coming to sub school in July, he said. When he left, she couldn't talk, and now she can say words, he said, smiling.

The Burroughs family had just some of the more than 800 dinners the Subvets volunteers prepared to serve Thursday to sailors and veterans who came to the club for Thanksgiving dinner.

Submarine veteran John Carcioppolo started the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the club nine years ago. About 150 volunteers helped cook, clean and serve the tables of sailors, veterans and their families this year.

By 1 p.m., the volunteers had given away more than 300 takeout meals, many going to local police departments and the Naval Submarine Base, where essential personnel were working.

One veteran interrupted Carcioppolo to thank him for the good work.

"It makes it all worthwhile," Carcioppolo said.

Although it may not have been home, the atmosphere seemed like a crowded family gathering, with people laughing and talking over plates of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and carrots. Football screens displayed the afternoon NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.

Across the Thames River, a similar gathering was taking place in New London at the Second Congregational Church. The church donates the space and volunteers from the Calvary Chapel in Montville usually serve nearly 700 sit-down and takeout meals.

For more than 20 years, the church volunteers have been serving the free meals in New London on Thanksgiving Day. Mike Ritz, one of the volunteer coordinators from the chapel, said many people who would be alone on Thanksgiving, others on the street or couples who had nowhere to be came for Thanksgiving dinner.

They sat at long tables as volunteers seated them, took their orders and later delivered plates with mounds of turkey with all the trimmings.

The leftover food from both events would go to the New London soup kitchen, organizers said. The remaining desserts from the Subvets event are being donated to a memorial this weekend for Matthew Buriak, the Ledyard High School football player who died Tuesday after collapsing during a game last weekend.

Wandering around the church dining hall wearing a black tuxedo was Gary Blackstone of Montville. Blackstone, who has volunteered at the dinner for more than 20 years, joked that he was the "maître d'" and wanted to make a good impression on the guests.

"I like to walk away from this day feeling I made an impact on someone's life and help them feel safe and cared for," he said.

Tom Shippey, a lifelong New London resident, said he came to the dinner with his friend because cooking a Thanksgiving dinner at home can be too stressful.

He said Thursday's dinner at the church was the best he had, not only because of the food, but also because of the volunteers.

"They smile ear to ear and they wait on you hand and foot," he said. "You feel loved. You couldn't pay for this."

m.naughton@theday.com