C-Rations

     The book I'm reading is, in part, about a Marine in Vietnam. There was a list of all the things he carried for a patrol that was to last many days. Among those things listed were six C-Rations, the prepared food Marines ate in the field. What? Those C-Rations must have been different than what we had. Our C-Rations came boxed and those boxes were larger than a Kleenex box. No way would he have been able to carry that in addition to all his other rear.

    Reading about C-Rations brought back the memory of eating them while in the Marines.  According to the internet this is what was in a single C-Ration box. "Canned meat or stew, Canned fruit or cake, Crackers, Canned spread, Instant coffee, Cream substitute, Sugar, Salt, Chewing gum, and Matches."  Back in the day there was one addition in our box; cigarettes! Yes, a pack of 4 cigarettes.  Going back to the internet I learned that cigarettes were removed in 1975. (Point of reference: I was discharged in 1962.)

    Most of the C-Rations were quite good. The canned chicken and turkey cooked over a sterno fire were very tasty. But, beware the ham and lima beans. They were too salty to eat and I never saw a Marine who would eat them. Naturally much trading went on and non-smokers could easily trade their cigarettes. Somewhere in the supply chain that provided the C-Rations there was someone with a sense of humor.  In our boxes were a can of cookies. The name of these cookies? MOTHER'S COOKIES.  While they were good, they weren't mothers. 

Takk for alt,

Al

In Asia Frode flew an A-20, like this one pictured. He liked it very much. Much safer than the B-26, on which he trained. This plane is in the Airforce Museum, Dayton, Ohio. It was an attack bomber with a top speed of over 300mph. It was manufactured by Douglas.