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CHICAGO (AP) — Hot dogs and burgers may be on the menu for many Americans celebrating the Fourth of July but for some troops serving overseas, a different treat awaits -- pizza.
Pizzas4Patriots, a suburban Chicago-based group founded by a veteran, has arranged for 5,000 pies to be shipped to Afghanistan, and another thousand to Kuwait. Mark Evans, a retired Air Force master sergeant, says it's a way of giving back to service members -- literally providing a slice of home.
Evans' group partners with businesses like Rich Products to make the pies and DHL to fly them. The pies are put on dry ice and driven to forward operating bases before being served.
Evans says Pizzas4Patriots has sent 150,000 pizzas to deployed troops for the Super Bowl and July 4th over the past 8 years -- roughly a million slices. He says they also deliver pizzas to veterans' hospitals across the U.S.
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