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Question for vietnam vets
mark christian
Member Posts: 24,443 ✭✭✭✭
I found a video on youtube where a fellow opens a full case of 1967 era rations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMahwBWjJw4&feature=related
I got to wondering just how these rations were distributed to each soldier or Marine. Did you simply walk by the full case and grab the individual meal that you prefered or did someone toss one to you at random? Clearly many of the meals are heavy on pork products and since Jewish, Muslim or Seventh-day Adventists (and a few Orthodox Church members) were not likely to be chowing down on those, I have to figure that such meals were simply exchanged on a person to person basis.
I guess the bottom line is which of the meals shown in the video were actually good enough to make you want to eat them and which were so bad that you only reached for them when you were so weak from hunger that you could not endure another minute with an empty stomach?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMahwBWjJw4&feature=relatedI got to wondering just how these rations were distributed to each soldier or Marine. Did you simply walk by the full case and grab the individual meal that you prefered or did someone toss one to you at random? Clearly many of the meals are heavy on pork products and since Jewish, Muslim or Seventh-day Adventists (and a few Orthodox Church members) were not likely to be chowing down on those, I have to figure that such meals were simply exchanged on a person to person basis.
I guess the bottom line is which of the meals shown in the video were actually good enough to make you want to eat them and which were so bad that you only reached for them when you were so weak from hunger that you could not endure another minute with an empty stomach?
Comments
Added: The B3 Unit can lids at 6:23 look to bulge out a bit, which of course would indicate spoilage.
Our First Sergeant opened the case - upside down. You could not read the label and you were not "given" time to choose. Luck of the draw. Trade after the fact.
Yep, I've seen that as well. I also remember the boxes being opend up with the labels showing, and the units passed out by an individual. I also recall, before my Nam days, when I was in the infantry that squads would be rotated during distribution.
Our company cooks could do wonders with those OLD rations[:)]
Our First Sergeant opened the case - upside down. You could not read the label and you were not "given" time to choose. Luck of the draw. Trade after the fact.
That seems to be what I saw the most of. Then lots of trade. You also save food Items till you got something from another Meal that made it Edible.
Pound cake you saved it till you got Peaches.
Ham&Eggs you saved till you had Cheese
B-1A was Crackers and Chocolate
b-2 Hard Tack and Cheese
Pork Steak was Ok
Turkey Boned was Ok
Ham and Eggs yes with Cheese
Beef Spiced Yes
Meatballs OK But the Pound Cake is what you really wanted
Beefsteak w/Potatoes No it had Fruit cake that was a No too
Ham and Lima No But it did have a Pecan Roll that was ok
Beans and Franks Yes
Turkey Loaf No But it did have fruit Cocktail
Beef Steak No Apricots Most amtrackers opened their case and threw this one out
Ham Fried ok it also had pears
Chicken and Noodles YES and this one is the one with peaches You ate good this Night.
On long range recons it is impossible to carry enough c-rats to cover the days you are out in the bush. We lived off the land and whatever we could scrounge from local villages. If it didn't eat us we ate it. I always carried a large bottle of hot sauce. That made about anything edible. And most importantly, we all carried a roll or two of butt wipe.[:D]
quote:Originally posted by US Military Guy
Our First Sergeant opened the case - upside down. You could not read the label and you were not "given" time to choose. Luck of the draw. Trade after the fact.
That seems to be what I saw the most of. Then lots of trade. You also save food Items till you got something from another Meal that made it Edible.
Pound cake you saved it till you got Peaches.
Ham&Eggs you saved till you had Cheese
B-1A was Crackers and Chocolate
b-2 Hard Tack and Cheese
Pork Steak was Ok
Turkey Boned was Ok
Ham and Eggs yes with Cheese
Beef Spiced Yes
Meatballs OK But the Pound Cake is what you really wanted
Beefsteak w/Potatoes No it had Fruit cake that was a No too
Ham and Lima No But it did have a Pecan Roll that was ok
Beans and Franks Yes
Turkey Loaf No But it did have fruit Cocktail
Beef Steak No Apricots Most amtrackers opened their case and threw this one out
Ham Fried ok it also had pears
Chicken and Noodles YES and this one is the one with peaches You ate good this Night.
Opening the case upside down with no markings visible would seem to be the best and most fair way. I am really fascinated with grumpygy's critique of meals. I am also surprised that specific entrees came with specific deserts/fruits. I would have guessed that the deserts and fruits were added during packaging completely random and were unrelated to the actual meal. It sounds like the Beef Steak with fruitcake was the big loser; even worse than the ham and Lima beans.
I have been on Gun Broker for over a decade and as I have said before: There are virtually no questions that cannot be answered here by folks who have first hand experience.
After eating LLRP rations for 2 weeks you could $h-t through a screen door at 50 yards.
W.D.
I will say the one main thing you brought with you to the field was Tabasco.
We had them from 74 till right around 1981 when the 1st of the MRE's started coming out.
Found a Site that gives MRE History. Think It is wrong cause they test it on us in 1981 and by 1984 thats all we got in the field.
quote:The MRE was adopted as the Department of Defense combat ration in 1975. A large-scale production test began in 1978 with delivery in 1981. MRE I (1981) was the first date of pack.
In 1983, a field evaluation was conducted with the 25th Infantry Division for 34 days. They ate noting but MREs three times a day. Although troops rated the ration as acceptable, consumption was low - only about 60% of the calories provided were consumed.
Another test in 1986 with the same division resulted in increased consumption and acceptance.
Based on these tests, a significant number of changes were made to MREs starting with the 1988 MREs (MRE XVIII). 9 of the 12 entrees were replaced with new ones and the entree size was changed from 5oz. to 8oz. Commercial candies were added to 4 menus, hot sauce was added to 4 menus, and cold beverage bases were added to all 12 menus.
After further field testing and as a result of early feedback from Operation Desert Storm, even more changes were made starting with MRE X: commercial freeze-dried coffee replaced the old mil-spec spray-dried coffee, hot sauce was added to all 12 menus, wet pack fruit replaced dehydrated fruits, and commercial candy was included in 4 more menus (for a total of 8).
We ate LLRP rations in the field,kinda like grevy train dog food, ate Cs back in fire base. Got hot chow flown into fire base sometimes every day, sometimes not, depending on weather and what ever Chuck was doing. Learned to make most everything edible with tabasco sauce and mixing and matching.
After eating LLRP rations for 2 weeks you could $h-t through a screen door at 50 yards.
W.D.
That's why you ate the C-Rations Cheese. Plugged you right up.
Need to go the peanut Butter and Chocolate Disks would loosen you up.
The ones I had during Boot camp were really Old I went in in 74, the ones we had were from the early 50's or in other words left over Korean stuff. During the field Exercises I was not allowed to go(Had the measles) I was the lucky one each and every person had food Poisoning.
I will say the one main thing you brought with you to the field was Tabasco.
We had them from 74 till right around 1981 when the 1st of the MRE's started coming out.
Found a Site that gives MRE History. Think It is wrong cause they test it on us in 1981 and by 1984 thats all we got in the field.
quote:The MRE was adopted as the Department of Defense combat ration in 1975. A large-scale production test began in 1978 with delivery in 1981. MRE I (1981) was the first date of pack.
In 1983, a field evaluation was conducted with the 25th Infantry Division for 34 days. They ate noting but MREs three times a day. Although troops rated the ration as acceptable, consumption was low - only about 60% of the calories provided were consumed.
Another test in 1986 with the same division resulted in increased consumption and acceptance.
Based on these tests, a significant number of changes were made to MREs starting with the 1988 MREs (MRE XVIII). 9 of the 12 entrees were replaced with new ones and the entree size was changed from 5oz. to 8oz. Commercial candies were added to 4 menus, hot sauce was added to 4 menus, and cold beverage bases were added to all 12 menus.
After further field testing and as a result of early feedback from Operation Desert Storm, even more changes were made starting with MRE X: commercial freeze-dried coffee replaced the old mil-spec spray-dried coffee, hot sauce was added to all 12 menus, wet pack fruit replaced dehydrated fruits, and commercial candy was included in 4 more menus (for a total of 8).
I was in in 1970 and our c-rats were from Korea.
In my second assignment, we had a dedicated chow hall for all personnel -- Air Force, Army Special Forces, a couple CIA guys, and a couple hundred "little guy" mercenaries. Interesting chow. We ate monkey noodle soup at least twice a week (it's absolutely delicious) plus dog, water buffalo, local chicken and local veggies. The veggies, however, were grown using human waste as fertilizer. You could get some nasty internal critters from anything not completely cooked. Lettuce was like playing Russian Roulette. Never had a C-rat or LRRP while there.
Edit to add: When MREs came out long after my Nam tour, I thought they were fabulous - in comparison. The current ones are even better and I actually like them.
Being in a mechanized unit, we drove thru a lot of villages on our M113's. We would throw candy to the kids who ran out. One kid zigged when he should have zagged and got squashed under one of the tracks. It was pretty much all the kids fault, but the CO made the driver pay the parents. If I recall it was a whooping $80.00. That, of course, is about 2 years income for one of those peasant families.
I still have my P-38 (dated 1963), which came from a C-ration case.
quote:Originally posted by US Military Guy
Our First Sergeant opened the case - upside down. You could not read the label and you were not "given" time to choose. Luck of the draw. Trade after the fact.
That seems to be what I saw the most of. Then lots of trade. You also save food Items till you got something from another Meal that made it Edible.
Pound cake you saved it till you got Peaches.
Ham&Eggs you saved till you had Cheese
B-1A was Crackers and Chocolate
b-2 Hard Tack and Cheese
Pork Steak was Ok
Turkey Boned was Ok
Ham and Eggs yes with Cheese
Beef Spiced Yes
Meatballs OK But the Pound Cake is what you really wanted
Beefsteak w/Potatoes No it had Fruit cake that was a No too
Ham and Lima No But it did have a Pecan Roll that was ok
Beans and Franks Yes
Turkey Loaf No But it did have fruit Cocktail
Beef Steak No Apricots Most amtrackers opened their case and threw this one out
Ham Fried ok it also had pears
Chicken and Noodles YES and this one is the one with peaches You ate good this Night.
Pretty much my recollection too. Case opened upside down, but we quickly learned the relative position of the really bad stuff (ham&limas, ham&eggs). Then went thru them, threw out what we didn't need/want, packed the rest into rucks. We drew C's for up to three days rations, ate the B2's (beans&franks, Beef steak w/potatos, meatballs) first, because they were heaviest - didn't want to hump the weight. Don't think anyone ever ate an entire ration as issued... it was mix and match. I was partial to the spiced beef... quite chewy, though, when the occasional piece of gristle showed up.
Peaches & pound cake was a great delicacy; never ate one without the other.
Heat tabs were separate from the C rats. Got them occasionally; some removed part of the C-4 from Claymores ILO, but that was discouraged.
I gave my last P-38 to my brother a few years ago. I have a couple of the aftermarket P-38s and I can't tell the difference, but my brother says they ain't the same thing.