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mrbsox
08-06-02, 08:17 PM
Got an idea....

yhea, well, maybe it's a good one, we'll see.

What was your BEST Gourmet meal, made from "C's"? :thumbup:

Here's the rules....

Must be in recipe format, so we can share !

Must be made from genuine standard issue "C" rats. NO Ks, As, Bs, lerps, MREs, or the like. Genuine, kicked off the back of a truck into a mud puddle, opened with a "John (rest in peace) Wayne" "C-rats".

NO outside ingredients except genuine standard issue hot sauce, A1, or what you could pilfer from the Gedunk. NO water buffalo on a stick, rat on a spit, or barbque'd bamboo root stew. Nothing from the locals.

We'll let the "Wonder Ladies of Leatherneck.com" do the Judging, if they know what a C-rat is.

Want to know whats in it (#3beans and balls etc...), how you made it (fried over open heat tab), and how it turned out.

If I start seeing some stuff pop up here, I'll guess it was a good idea. If not, I'll go hide for awhile.


See ya.... slaving over a hot "STEEL POT"

Terry :banana:
P.S. Can they cook in Kevlar ????:evilgrin:

wrbones
08-07-02, 12:46 AM
I've cooked in the same"pot", washed in the same "pot". and shaved in the same "pot", then wore the same'pot'. Kinda scary ain't it! LMAO

Barndog
08-07-02, 05:20 AM
My favorite was the 'anything with meat' stew. Yer fire team took the rats with meat, and we combined them into one pot, added hot sauce (usually everyone had a bottle). As you well know, most of the meat rats were thoroughly disgusting to begin with.
Hotsauce will cure most anything - including hangovers in proper doses LMAO

Semper FI

Barndog

Barndog
08-07-02, 05:26 AM
One thing I forgot to mention...... As a young PFC, I remember my squad SGT taking me aside and kinda giving me the verbal scuttlebutt on what was expected blah, blah, blah. I remember vividly him describing what I would more than likely be assigned to do, when we got to humping. Radioman.. Oh, joy-of-joys.
When we got to field sanitation, he says ....... ' now remember, theres not going to be a latrine conviently located out in the field at Pendleton you understand'....... 'so, I expect you to take care of your personal duty in a military manner. My Marines donot dig 'cat holes' - they dig trenches'......... (for obvious reasons involving C-rats) LMFAO
Another vote for hotsauce!

Semper FI

Barndog

mrbsox
08-07-02, 07:24 AM
Hawaian style Ham Slices

#1 meal, Ham slices in it's own juices
#2 meal, pineapple bits, in heavy syrup
#3 meal, smoked cheddar cheese
1 can peanut butter
salt to taste, heat tabs as needed
crackers optional

make skillet from cracker can, leave lid on, bent
back over heat tab set into peanut butter

fry ham slices till golden brown, set aside
fry pineapple bits till golden brown
spread layer of cheese on each ham slice, place
pineapple bits on ham slices, salt to taste. May
be served on #1, #2, or #3 crackers

Makes 4 slices, serves 1

Results, Taste like fried C-rats :lick:

Terry :p

JAMarine
08-07-02, 08:09 AM
Ingredients:

1 can Spaghetti 'n Balls
1 can of Scrambled Eggs
1 oz. Hot Sauce (AnyKinda will work)
1 can Peanut Butter
1 container Chocolate Discs

Directions:

Mix Spaghetti and Balls, Eggs and Hot Sauce Together.
Cook over Heat Tab until Bubbly
Set Aside

Spread Peanut Butter onto Chocolate Discs

Enjoy your Experience.

USMC0311
08-07-02, 12:47 PM
Ham and eggs chopped, straight up with a paddy water chaser w/halizone or iodine tabs. called "grunt supreme"

I don't think there is much that can be done to improve the taste of C-rations. and Like most tastefull Marines I think....Ham and muthas R the pits :p

SF,

badbob
08-07-02, 04:56 PM
Pound Cake with Chocolate frosting


1) Can of Pound Cake
2) 1 pack or cocoa
3) 1 pack powdered creamer

Using your P-38 John Wayne, place two small holes in the top of the pound cake can and add (1) canteen capfull of water.

Mix the cocoa and creamer together with enough water to make a paste.

Heat the Pound Cake until steam comes from the holes in the can.

Remove the Pound Cake, Cut in half and put the cocoa paste on both halves.

Insert match, incendiary end up, light, and sing “happy birthday you poor, green, sorry son of a "B"

Serves two if you’re in a good mood.

Looked like frosted cake, tasted like Pound Cake & cocoa paste.

***This frosting could also be used on the crackers, but nothing can really help those dry cardboard crackers.

To make extra good frosting, use two packages of cocoa.

Note: though you may be tempted, do not use the chocolate tabs in this frosting, in fact, don’t eat the chocolate tabs unless constipated, they’re nothing but a chocolate flavored laxative. :no:


Semper Fi,
Bob

LadyLeatherneck
08-07-02, 05:39 PM
Originally posted by wrbones
I've cooked in the same"pot", washed in the same "pot". and shaved in the same "pot", then wore the same'pot'. Kinda scary ain't it! LMAO

Well good thing you didn't sh!t in the same pot because then
THAT would be scary! :eek:

badbob
08-07-02, 06:39 PM
You got that right LadyLeatherneck

If Bones did sh!t in that same pot he'd be a SH!T HEAD for sure:p

Semper Fi,
Bob

wrbones
08-07-02, 06:45 PM
Must be my turn, finally! LMAOROTF! Looks like pound cake, tastes like pound cake....must be ****! I've heated those pound cakes before. They still taste like crap! Ain't no way to make that stuff taste better! MRE's are fine dining in comparison! LOL

mrbsox
08-07-02, 07:01 PM
Somebody refresh my memory.....
(had abirthday the other day you know)
Hey Six.... 37 was a long time ago...

OK, back to this post !

What was the "C" for....
Canned...
Combat...
or Constipation ?

maybe it's canned combat constipation, 1 each
That's why 'rats' is plural !!:bunny: :bunny:

mrbsox
08-07-02, 07:39 PM
Choke-N-Slide

How do I love thee, let me count the ways .....

Grape, Aprocot, Pineapple, Blackberry, Peach,

I think I remember Raspberry once :thumbup:

Gross's the family out every time I mix it up. Still a staple of life.

HHOORRAA !!

USMC0311
08-07-02, 08:03 PM
4 the people that CRS or have CRAFT

http://www.homestead.com/gruntfixer/files/crats.html

P.S. I did love the "C's"

mrbsox
08-08-02, 07:31 AM
.. for our guys (and gals) in the field.

0311 is right... the Ham and Eggs, chopped, 1 each were the best- hot or cold :lick:

kinda liked the Chocolate nut roll... dry but filling, had flavor. And they were usually plentiful, cause nobody else wanted 'em.

Were made right here in Nashville, so they brought me home to.

Pizza

#2 Beans & wennies (aka beans & d**ks)
crackers
Cheese of choice

Crush crackers into a powder, mix with H2O into paste, make flat dough (kinda like a tortilla). Fry on 'skillit' over heat tab till firm.

Seperate sauce from Beany weinnie's, slice wenny into pepperoni 'wanna-b's'.

Spread sauce, cheese, and wennies onto fcukd up crackers. Throw whole mess away and eat Chocolate nut roll. Go to bed hungry. :thumbup:

Mmmm-mmmm yuck :banana:

8th&I Marine
08-08-02, 09:45 AM
Can someone tell me what a "C" rat taste like. We had the MRE's.
LIke ham and choke loaf. chicken ala yuck and so on. Always had some hot sauce though. some things just dont change i guess. LOL


cantrell

mrbsox
08-08-02, 01:02 PM
That's a bit of a loaded question... depends on how hungry you are;)

Let's try... the consistance of SPAM, the look of congelled bacon grease (aka lard), and the flavor of cheap dry dog food.....

then think of something WORSE than that:thumbup:
(I'm guessing at the dog food part, but the kids were fond of it many years ago)

Check around Surplus store, gun shows, and the like. Maybe you can luck up and still find some in date !!!!

Anybody else got a description ????? Unique is a good start !!!

badbob
08-08-02, 02:10 PM
Of the 332 days I spent “in country”, I ate approximately 884 “C” Ration meals, and I’m here to tell ya, there really wasn’t much anyone could do to improve their taste.

Hell, Our water tasted so bad from all the Iodine they put in it, when used in our food, everything tasted like Iodine. I had a friend who would send home for Kool Aide, but if you’ve ever tasted Iodine flavored Kool Aide, you’d know that wasn't a good idea either.

In July 1965 we were eating C’s date stamped 1943. By March 1966 our C’s WERE coming in with 1954 date stamps, by early July 1966 when I left Nam, the date stamps were 1973.

There were 4 of each B units to a Case – A Case was designed to feed a Fireteam of 4 troops for one day.

Below are the three meals with their different combinations.

This was a major project to put together, all from memory, and many old Grunt brains were picked in the process.

Do we have it correct??


B-1's Breakfast meals
Meat Choices (small cans): Ham and Eggs Chopped - Ham Slices - Turkey Loaf - Beef Steak

Fruit: Applesauce - Fruit Cocktail - Peaches - Pears

Crackers & Peanut Butter

one of the following;
Chocolate Disc - Cocoanut Cream


B-2's Lunch meals
Meat Choices (small cans): Boned Chicken - Chicken and Noodles - Meat Loaf - Spiced Beef Bread

Cookies

Cocoa Beverage Powder

one of the following Jam; Apple - Berry - Grape - Mixed Fruit - Strawberry


B-3's Dinner meals
Meat Choices ( large cans): Beans and Wieners - Spaghetti & Meatballs - Beefsteak & Potatoes - Ham & Lima Beans, aka Ham & Mutha Fu*ker's

Crackers & Cheese Spread, Caraway or Pimento

one of the following; Fruit Cake - Pecan Roll - Pound Cake


ACCESSORY Package included with each meal;

Plastic Spoon - Salt Pepper -Coffee - Sugar -Creamer - Gum, 2 Chicklet's

Cigarettes- 4 per pack- one of the following;
Winston - Marlboro - Salem - Pall Mall - Camels - Chesterfield - Kent - Lucky Strike - Kools

Matches

Toilet Paper


Semper Fi
Bob Neener
http://www.3rdmarines.net

USMC0311
08-08-02, 02:35 PM
Originally posted by USMC0311
4 the people that CRS or have CRAFT

http://www.homestead.com/gruntfixer/files/crats.html

P.S. I did love the "C's"

the link won't tell ya the taste. maybe U can use yer imagination. the year stamped on the C-rat cases was 1945 and we was eating them in 1965. I went from 145lb in Division at Pendleton in 65 and weighed 165lb when I was on R&R Saigon Feb. 66.
All we ate was C's, in Vietnam except for 1 Buffalo,($500 mistake), limes, ant candy, and Christmas 1965 "Cold" "Hot chow" on the hill, so U C...C's R nutritious

You will never know what you missed:no: LOL so sorry GI

Semper Fi,

Hey BadBob I still remember the feeling halizone/iodine had on mt teeth..:confused:

mrbsox
08-08-02, 04:15 PM
Now that's a whole different flavor!

That'll be a story for another day, maybe this winter It'll make better reading.:banana: :banana:

badbob
08-08-02, 10:49 PM
Yah,

If I still had my original issue teeth, I could relate!

Semper Fi,
bob

JRtheSTAR
08-11-02, 08:30 AM
Bad Bob, good job on listing the C-Rats. Brought back memories. You left out the Date Pudding, that shvt was awful. I don't remember what unit it was in but nobody would eat it. Also it seems like there were a couple of brands of cigarettes that had 5 in it. Does anybody remember which brands they were?

USMC0311
08-11-02, 08:36 AM
Originally posted by USMC0311
4 the people that CRS or have CRAFT

http://www.homestead.com/gruntfixer/files/crats.html

P.S. I did love the "C's"

above is a LINK JR

JRtheSTAR
08-11-02, 08:58 AM
Joe, thank for the site but I didn't see Date Pudding listed. Maybe I'm getting old and senile but I sure thought there was a date pudding.

badbob
08-11-02, 09:05 AM
I think you're right JR -

I seem to recall there was a pudding that really really Sucked.

maybe that's why we missed it when we did the pole two years ago.

As for the Cigs, I believe the PallMals and either Camels & Lucky's or Chesterfields had 5 smokes each.

Maybe all the non filters had 5 ea. not sure on this one.

Semper Fi,
Bob

JRtheSTAR
08-11-02, 09:47 AM
I,m sure Camels had 5 in them, that's what I smoked then, ( and still do ) I think you're right about the non filters having 5.

badbob
08-11-02, 10:05 AM
Camels - best smoke smoke in the C's

Been smoken them shorties since 1965 - one pak a day

http://www.3rdmarines.net/onecamel.jpg

Semper Fi Bro
Bob

wrbones
11-01-02, 01:46 PM
C-RATS

This is the official Quartermaster's description of C-Rations used in Vietnam
"The Meal, Combat, Individual, is designed for issue as the tactical situation dictates, either in individual units as a meal or in multiples of three as a complete ration. Its characteristics emphasize utility, flexibility of use, and more variety of food components than were included in the Ration, Combat, Individual (C Ration) which it replaces. Twelve different menus are included in the specification.
Each menu contains: one canned meat item; one canned fruit, bread or dessert item;
one B unit; an accessory packet containing cigarettes, matches, chewing gum, toilet paper, coffee, cream, sugar, and salt; and a spoon. Four can openers are provided in each case of 12 meals. Although the meat item can be eaten cold, it is more palatable when heated.

Each complete meal contains approximately 1200 calories. The daily ration of 3 meals provides approximately 3600 calories."




There were 4 choices of meat in each B group. Because there were several "vintages" of C's issued to the Marines in Vietnam, more than 4 items may be listed in the B groups as well as the brands of cigarettes included in the accessory pack.
B-1 Units
Meat Choices (in small cans):
Beef Steak
Ham and Eggs, Chopped
Ham Slices
Turkey Loaf
Fruit:
Applesauce
Fruit Cocktail
Peaches
Pears
Crackers (7)
Peanut Butter
Candy Disc, Chocolate
Solid Chocolate
Cream
Coconut
Accessory Pack*
B-2 Units
Meat Choices (in larger cans):
Beans and Wieners
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Beefsteak, Potatoes and Gravy
Ham and Lima Beans
Meatballs and Beans
Crackers (4)
Cheese Spread, Processed
Caraway
Pimento
Fruit Cake
Pecan Roll
Pound Cake
Accessory Pack* B-3 Units
Meat Choices (in small cans):
Boned Chicken
Chicken and Noodles
Meat Loaf
Spiced Beef
Bread, White
Cookies (4)
Cocoa Beverage Powder
Jam
Apple
Berry
Grape
Mixed Fruit
Strawberry
Accessory Pack*



*Accessory Pack
Spoon, Plastic
Salt
Pepper
Coffee, Instant
Sugar
Creamer, Non-dairy
Gum, 2 Chicklets
Cigarettes, 4 smokes/pack
Winston
Marlboro
Salem
Pall Mall
Camel
Chesterfield
Kent
Lucky Strike
Kool
Matches, Moisture Resistant
Toilet Paper


How to make a C-Ration Stove
The small cans included in the meal were ideal for making a stove. Using a "John Wayne" pierce a series of closely spaced holes around the top and bottom rims of the can. This stove was satisfactory, but did not allow enough oxygen to enter which caused incomplete burning of the blue Trioxin heat tablet, causing fumes which irritated the eyes and respiratory tract. A whole heat tab had to be used.
A better stove was created by simply using the can opener end of a "church key" (a flat metal device designed to open soft drink and beer containers with a bottle opener on one end and can opener on the other commonly used before the invention of the pull tab and screw-off bottle top) to puncture triangular holes around the top and bottom rims of the can which resulted in a hotter fire and much less fumes. With this type of stove only half a Trioxin heat tab was needed to heat the meal and then the other half could be used to heat water for coffee or cocoa. A small chunk of C-4 explosive could also be substituted for the Trioxin tablet for faster heating. It would burn hotter and was much better for heating water.
.
A stove was usually carried in the back pack or cargo pocket and used repeatedly until the metal began to fail.

How to Heat a C-Ration Meal

Choose the meal to be consumed
Open the can lid leaving at least 1/4 inch metal attached
Bend the stillattached lid so that the inside of the can lid is facing 180 degreese from it's original position (inside up).
Bend the edges of the can to form a handle
Set meal on stove and heat to desired temperature, stirring fequently to prevent burning.
"Outstanding" Ham & Mothers
Open and heat a can of Ham and Lima Beans
When hot, add one can of cheese spread and stir until all cheese is melted.
Crumble 4 crackers into the mixture and blend thouroughly.
Eat when the crackers have absorbed all excess moisture.





How to make a C-Ration Coffee Cup
Obtain the B (large, dry) can from the C-ration meal
Follow steps 2 thru 4 in How to Heat a C-Ration Meal above.

Deluxe (reusable) Version*
Remove the top of the can completely.
Obtain 2 lengths of the bailing wire off of the C-Ration case.
Obtain a solid, sturdy stick about 4 inches long.
Notch out a groove around the stick near both ends.
Wrap each length of wire around both top & bottom ends of the can and twist the wire around itself leaving enough twisted wire to twist around the grooves in both ends of the stick 1 inch from the can creating a very nice handle.
Trim off excess wire.

firstsgtmike
11-01-02, 06:23 PM
You knew you were getting the "original" C-rats and not a knock off carbon copy when the circle on the Lucky Strikes was green and not red.

And if I remember right, the Camels were different too.


Semper Fi

vance
11-01-02, 06:46 PM
I remember the company Gunny showing us how to make Mulligan Stew in a helmet pot. About everything but the sweets and Ham n'Limas. Heated slowly over the heat tabs , add tabasco and it filled the belly plus took the chill off .

SHOOTER1
11-29-02, 12:35 PM
the Han and M************ were the best of all the meals, i never had to worry about my next meal, cause nobody else wanted them, i always has 4 or 5 cases of just Ham ands under my rack in camp, id trade anything except cigs , TP, matches, salt ,pepper coffie, and coca for them, with tabasco, you cant beat them, if you can heat them, as for the cigs, the Salem and Kools got me the rest of what i needed , when needed, i still have a full unopened case of them ,saving for a rainy day, i quit smoking a few years ago, cold turkey for 3 years, went camping and opened a box of Cs packed in 44, since i dont waste anything, i smoked a pack of Pall Malls , that first 2 drags put me on my butt, it was the best cigg i have ever smoked, i instantly jumped in my truck and drove 30 miles to a store and bought a carton of Pall Malls, been back smoken ever since. IF ANYONE OUT THERE CAN GIT OR KNOWS OF WHERE I CAN STILL BUY C-RATS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW, IVE CHECKED OUT SURPLUS , GUNSHOWS EVERYWHERE, I CANT GIT THEM ANYMORE, I REALLY DO WANT MORE OF THEM ,SPECIALLY HAM ANDS,ANYONE?

NEWB
11-29-02, 08:37 PM
Shooter,
I think they were outlawed by the Geneva Convention as Cruel and Unusual Punishment. LOL. I loved the Ham and Eggs Chopped.

mrbsox
05-21-03, 11:39 AM
BUMP :banana:

Just looking thru some old stuff, and bumping this back up for the 'New-Bee's'

Terry

USMC0311
05-21-03, 02:31 PM
Originally posted by NEWB
Shooter,
I think they were outlawed by the Geneva Convention as Cruel and Unusual Punishment. LOL. I loved the Ham and Eggs Chopped.

:D yep smelled like cat food...looked like cat food...I always wondered if the taste was like cat food....:confused:

If anyone knows pleeze give me a heads-up...;)

fars as gettin C's I think the C connoisseurs have already eaten them all.

Barrio_rat
05-21-03, 06:11 PM
Joe T... don't trust what others say.. Find out for yourself... I'll buy ya the can, if ya want... ;)

I don't know what cat food tastes like - but cat ain't half bad. My baby girl swears by dog food - freaks the wife out some LOL

USMC0311
05-21-03, 06:26 PM
Originally posted by Barrio_rat
Joe T... don't trust what others say.. Find out for yourself... I'll buy ya the can, if ya want... ;)

I don't know what cat food tastes like - but cat ain't half bad. My baby girl swears by dog food - freaks the wife out some LOL

Thanks for the offer Rat. The reason I asked if someone else knows, was to find out if they was anyone more foolish/curious than me. Dog is good. I seen too many flat cats to even want to taste one ov'em. I hope the Wife and Girls are doin good as you "smart-ass" ;)

Semper Fi, Brother

Barrio_rat
05-22-03, 03:10 AM
Better a "smart-ass" than a “dumb-ass”! ;)

Wife and kids are doing very well. Can go on and on about that - short and sweet version is, oldest is doing well and makin me proud, youngest is amazing.

Only reason I know cat is any good is because I used to hit this restaurant in Okinawa - it got closed down for a while cuz they found dogs and cats hangin in the freezer. Some of you may remember it Ghengis Khans Mongolian Barbeque - near Futenma. They were closed in late ‘89 and reopened in the Spring of ‘90. Good eats!

thedrifter
05-22-03, 10:38 PM
FOX HOLE DINNER FOR TWO
(Turkey & Chicken Poulette)

1 can chicken and noodles
1 can turkey loaf, cut up into pieces
1 can cheese spread
12 spoons milk
Crackers from one C-Ration can, crumbled
Salt & pepper to taste
2 spoons butter or oil or fat-
2 spoons flour
3 dashes TABASCO

Melt butter oil or fat, add flour and stir until
smooth. Add milk and continue to cook until cheese melts and sauce is even. Empty cans of turkey loaf and chicken noodles into cheese sauce.
Season with TABASCO, salt & pepper to taste and continue cooking. Cover poulette with crumbled crackers and serve piping hot.



Sempers,

Roger

thedrifter
05-22-03, 10:42 PM
Don't forget the P-38........

http://www.diggerhistory.info/images/food/can-opener.jpg



The Folding Can Opener

The P38

Story by Maj. Renita Foster

It was developed in just 30 days in the summer of 1942 by the Subsistence Research Laboratory in Chicago. And never in its 52-year history has it been known to break, rust, need sharpening or polishing. Perhaps that is why many soldiers, past and present, regard the P-38 C-ration can opener as the Army's best invention.

C-rations have long since been replaced with the more convenient Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), but the fame of the P-38 persists, thanks to the many uses stemming from the unique blend of ingenuity and creativity all soldiers seem to have.

"The P-38 is one of those tools you keep and never want to get rid of," said Sgt. Scott Kiraly, a military policeman. "I've had my P-38 since joining the Army 11 years ago and kept it because I can use it as a screwdriver, knife, anything."

The most vital use of the P-38, however, is the very mission it was designed for, said Fort Monmouth, N.J., garrison commander Col. Paul Baerman. "When we had C-rations, the P-38 was your access to food; that made it the hierarchy of needs," Baerman said. "Then soldiers discovered it was an extremely simple, lightweight, multipurpose tool. I think in warfare, the simpler something is and the easier access it has, the more you're going to use it. The P-38 had all of those things going for it."

The tool acquired its name from the 38 punctures required to open a C-ration can, and from the boast that it performed with the speed of the World War II P-38 fighter plane.

"Soldiers just took to the P-38 naturally," said World War II veteran John Bandola. "It was our means for eating 90 percent of the time, but we also used it for cleaning boots and fingernails, as a screwdriver, you name it. We all carried it on our dog tags or key rings." When Bandola attached his first and only P-38 to his key ring a half century ago, it accompanied him to Anzio, Salerno and through northern Italy. It was with him when World War II ended, and it's with him now. "This P-38 is a symbol of my life then," said Bandola. "The Army, the training, my fellow soldiers, all the times we shared during a world war."

Sgt. Ted Paquet, swing shift supervisor in the Fort Monmouth Provost Marshal's Office, was a 17-year-old seaman serving aboard the amphibious assault ship USS New Orleans during the Vietnam war when he got his first P-38. The ship's mission was to transport Marines off the coast of Da Nang.

On occasional evenings, Marines gathered near Paquet's duty position on the fantail for simple pleasures like "Cokes, cigarettes, conversation and C-rations." It was during one of these nightly sessions that Paquet came in contact with the P-38, or "John Wayne" as it's referred to in the Navy.

Paquet still carries his P-38, and he still finds it useful. While driving with his older brother, Paul, their car's carburettor began to have problems. "There were no tools in the car and, almost simultaneously, both of us reached for P-38s attached to our key rings," Paquet said with a grin. "We used my P-38 to adjust the flow valve, the car worked perfectly, and we went on our merry way."

Paquet's P-38 is in a special box with his dog tags, a .50-caliber round from the ship he served on, his Vietnam Service Medal, South Vietnamese money and a surrender leaflet from Operation Desert Storm provided by a nephew. "It will probably be on my dresser until the day I die," Paquet said.

The feelings veterans have for the P-38 aren't hard to understand, according to 1st Sgt. Steve Wilson of the Chaplain Centre and School at Fort Monmouth. "When you hang on to something for 26 years," he said, "it's very hard to give it up. That's why people keep their P-38 just like they do their dog tags.... It means a lot. It's become part of you. You remember field problems, jumping at 3 a.m. and moving out. A P-38 has you reliving all the adventures that came with soldiering in the armed forces. Yes, the P-38 opened cans, but it did much more. Any soldier will tell you that."


Sempers,

Roger

top1371
05-22-03, 11:01 PM
Here is a Combat Engineer C-Rat Trick:

We used to collect all the peanut butter from the grunts, because peanut butter was known to clog up your system. Well, we didnt eat it, we cooked with it. Here is what you do:

-Take the cracker can and cut it half way around on top and bottom, so you can crush it in like a sterno stove. Imagine that you are going to put something on it like a canteen cup and the fuel under it.

-Open the peanut butter and squish the cardboard from the cracker can into the peanut butter. Notice the oil of the peanut butter is seperated from the peanut butter.

-Squirt 'bug juice' - the old issued insect repelent into the peanut butter.

-Light the peanut butter put it under the stove.

You can boil water or cook any C-Rat on this little stove.

Once the grunts learned our trick they quit giving us their peanut butter :)

Semper Fi,

Top

thedrifter
05-23-03, 06:45 AM
and the story continues........

Who wants my ham and lima beans ...... LOL.........



Posted on Wed, Apr. 09, 2003

Tabasco travels with the troops
By STEPHANIE SHAPIRO
c 2003 The Baltimore Sun

Along with goggles and gas masks, U.S. soldiers in Iraq are carrying another item into battle -- minibottles of Tabasco sauce, packed in their food rations.

The fiery pepper sauce, produced since 1868 by the McIlhenny Co. on Avery Island in Louisiana, has spiced up military meals for more than a century.

"One of my distant cousins sent a case of Tabasco to Ulysses S. Grant when he was president," says Paul McIlhenny, company president. That still counts, because Grant was a Civil War general, he says.

A great uncle who served with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders "made sure he had a bottle of Tabasco at San Juan Hill," McIlhenny says.

Presumably, "thoughtful parents" during World War I and II and the Korean War shipped the condiment, named after a coastal region in Mexico, to their sons, McIlhenny says.

In a marketing stroke of genius, the company kicked up its efforts during the war in Vietnam. The armed forces stationed there received thousands of copies of the Charley Ration Cookbook with recipes for jazzing up C rations with Tabasco sauce, wrapped around bottles of the sauce in waterproof canisters.

During two tours of Vietnam in the late 1960s, as an infantry officer and an adviser with the military assistance command, George Creighton of Bowie doesn't remember getting the sauce from McIlhenny. But it did come in packages from his wife.

"The rations get boring and you just need something to liven them up and Tabasco does that," says Creighton, 65. He'd use it to tweak his bland beef and peas and spaghetti. On steak, it also "worked very well."

Sometimes, the troops would mix up their C rations and water-buffalo meat "like a mulligan stew with rice and put in Tabasco sauce and add flavor to the whole mix," says Creighton, an active member of state and national veterans legislative affairs committees.

By the time Operation Desert Storm ended in 1991, Tabasco sauce had become a staple in the Meal, Ready-to-Eat. Today troops stationed around the world receive a 1/8-ounce bottle of the incendiary sauce, made simply of peppers, vinegar and salt, with each MRE.

The tiny bottles are filled with sauce shipped from Avery Island to a Brooklyn, N.Y., packer. From there, the bottles go to facilities around the country where MRE components, from towelettes and burritos to matches and M&Ms, are assembled into MRE packets. The packer is "producing over a million minibottles a week," according to McIlhenny.

By request, his company will also provide troops with the newly republished MRE cookbook, more of a morale booster than a literal guide, the company president says.

E-mails are flowing in from troops involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan to the company, whose product line includes marinades, sauces, pepper jellies and souvenirs with logos. They're demanding McIlhenny's "chipotle" and garlic-pepper sauces as well as its standard sauce. With their military address, McIlhenny will send it free.

For the company, providing Tabasco to the troops is worth its weight in paid advertising. "It's not a large source of income; it's a nice source of income," McIlhenny says. Most of all, "It's a little touch of home in far-flung places."

And every time a Marine adds a dash of Tabasco to MRE of boneless pork or beef stew, Paul McIlhenny wins a minibattle for taste in a bottle. "We want to defend the world against bland food, wherever it may be."

Sempers,

Roger

kubba
05-23-03, 04:34 PM
Honestly I didn't think that there were that many marines here the would remember c-rats. I don't feel that old anymore.
I remember that hot sauce was a key ingredient with those second world war left overs.
And if you did'nt have you john wayne you were in deep dodo.
Semper FI
stan:banana:

Barrio_rat
05-23-03, 04:44 PM
Oh, yer old... but I remember C-Rats too... I saw 'em in a museum.

pfwahahahahahahahahahahaha...

Actually, MRE's had just come in as I went in... but we were still issued P-38's or, as we called 'em, John Waynes.

kubba
05-24-03, 03:11 AM
Barrio_rat
The best part of the c-rats was, now if you were lucky. were the wonderful stale crackers you got with them. Little tins of peanut butter and jelly you would save. Some guys actually got some good tasting candy.
Semper FI
stan

Devildogg4ever
05-24-03, 05:25 PM
Always like eating anything from C-rats as long as it was mixed with "Texas Pete" and "Oodles Of Noodles"! Does anyone remember how many holes there are in a C-rat cracker?

mrbsox
05-25-03, 07:34 PM
Oh cool.... :p

Trivia time :banana:


I've heard this before but don't remember...

NEWB
05-25-03, 07:48 PM
I can only remember 1 hole. That was from my M-14. I used them as targets at 300 yds. lol. I really do not remember how many holes were in them.

Sparrowhawk
05-25-03, 08:17 PM
Peaches and Pound Cake only one of each in each case of C-rats.

Together they were as good as it could get.

Pinch a small hole in the can of pound cake, drop in one or two drops of water.

Heat it up with a heat tab, remove, cut open can, and pour peaches over it.

Drink the peach juice by itself, or pour it into your canteen, to give the water a special flavour, that would last two canteen fills.

Oh, those were special days.

top1371
05-26-03, 12:13 AM
Another thing I remember is that we would line up and grab our C-rats at random...

Well random to only us newbees.... the old salts got in line first and the newbees picked last.... little did we know that the salts had the order of the meals memorized, even with the box turned upside down. That didnt work on us for very long, we figured it out after eating eggs for a while... I would kill for some BEEF AND ROCKS right now :)

Semper Fi,

Top

ba_1991
05-26-03, 12:42 AM
no recipes yet.havent tried c-rats.can you stil get them ?
if so, where,I'll try anything once.
I,m an MRE marine.nothing can be worse than coned beef hash.
tastes & looks just like dog food.
but keeps you going,hasn't killed me yet.


ooh-rah
Semper Fi
B.A.

richgitz
06-16-03, 02:33 PM
I got to agree with USMC0311. C-RATS were Great. The one I
liked best was HAM & MOTHER F*****S. You had to open them
with the grease on top, or you were in DEEP-**** literally. As
a PLT SGT I always let my men get first pick, and guess what
was left. I know everybody stayed DOWN-WIND from me.

richgitz
06-16-03, 02:50 PM
To ba_1991 I don't think so, because Us Older JARHEADS ate
them all.

Devildogg4ever
06-16-03, 03:12 PM
Tell you what, Sparrowhawk, thats making my mouth water! Some of the combinations you couldn't beat. Some of it sucked. But, he, he, you get hungry enough you'll eat anything! :D

leroy8541
06-18-03, 09:24 AM
mre chilli from the dehydrated meat patties

- take all the stuff outa the bag cut it in half fill it about a quarter way up w/water throw in the beef patty let it get soft then mash it up put in the beans and tomato sauce mix them up good put the crackers in mash it all up real good add hot sauce to your own preference, mine is half a bottle put the cheese in mix it all up again now enjoy!! NUMM NUMM.

richgitz
06-18-03, 12:45 PM
I keep hearing how gooood these MRE's are, maybe I'll check outone of those ARMY-NAVY Stores (thats what they call them
in Pa). Somebody tell me the Best ONE, and don't BULLS**T me.
And after I try it, I'll make a Report. Anybody ever eat those Long
Range RATS, the ones that are Freezed Dried. I tried them once.
I think I got it from a guy who was a LAARP.

Sgt Sostand
06-19-03, 04:07 PM
C rats Mmm good :marine:

richgitz
06-19-03, 05:48 PM
Boy! Am I glad to see someone else likes C-RATS too. I'm still
waiting for someone to tell me which MRE is the best one. I think
nobody likes them, like they love C-RATS. Nothing like a steaming
hot can of HAM & MOTHER-F**KERS, a stick to your ribs meal. I
got to quit, I'm getting Hungry.:yes: :marine: :banana:

mrbsox
06-19-03, 06:11 PM
Meal,
Refused to
Eat

Meal,
Refused by
Ethiopians

Meal,
Regurgitated
Excreatment

Just some kind things I've heard about MRE's. But what do I know.... I'm a "C" lover :p

richgitz
06-19-03, 06:18 PM
Before we know it, we'll have a C-RAT PACK going here. I thought
there was something wrong with me.:emark: :marine: :banana:

CPLRapoza
06-20-03, 04:31 AM
Chilli Mac with salt, and Beef Stew with Tabassco are the two best MRE's in my book.

CPLRapoza
06-20-03, 04:33 AM
But if you want the one with the best fixings, Chicken and Salsa by far beats out the rest.

richgitz
06-20-03, 06:14 AM
Thanks for the Info! I'm going to try them and make a report
about which is better C-RATS or MRE's.:yes: :banana:

leroy8541
06-22-03, 10:05 AM
Beef patties or pork patties dehydrated either one, Chicken ala king wasn't toooooo bad. I don't know about the new ones. I figure anything found in military surplus stores will be pretty old.

Osotogary
06-24-03, 08:35 PM
Enjoy. I wonder what an MRE looks like?:)

richgitz
06-24-03, 09:04 PM
Outstanding Osotogary
I really like the visual effects., good work. I think the C-Rats days are over. May-be someone, with a little pull in the food industary
might read this and bring them back. (NOT) Only the older Mar-
ines will ever know the great taste and the health hazards of
this military icon. SEMPER-FI to all Marines Past, Present, and
the Future.:marine: :banana:

firstsgtmike
06-25-03, 01:44 AM
Correct me if I am wrong, but I sense a major difference between C-Rats and MREs.

Oftentimes, C-Rats were a community affair. A fire-team or squad would pool their rations for a slumgullion stew. All participants would donate to the banquet.

On a smaller scale, one, two, or three, would swap and barter this for that.

I haven't sensed this comaradarie between those supplied with MREs.

Am I wrong?

Sgt Sostand
06-25-03, 08:45 AM
Yes their a difference between C rats and MREs C Rat is better at lease to me they are better
MRE is Freez Dryed you have to add water to some of it or eat it dry also your pack can hold more MRE than C Rats. i always never thought about food when i was geting shot at i pack more Rounds than food. :)

Sparrowhawk
06-25-03, 09:29 AM
Originally posted by firstsgtmike
Correct me if I am wrong, but I sense a major difference between C-Rats and MREs.

Oftentimes, C-Rats were a community affair. A fire-team or squad would pool their rations for a slumgullion stew. All participants would donate to the banquet.

On a smaller scale, one, two, or three, would swap and barter this for that.

I haven't sensed this comaradarie between those supplied with MREs.

Am I wrong?


Rarely did anything like that happened.

"C-Rats were a community affair", don't remember anything like that happening. exchanged at times with someone you knew liked what you didn't like.
But that's about it!

Osotogary
06-29-03, 07:34 PM
I was thinking of doing Beans and ***** but didn't have the guts.:)
Enjoy this one.
Gary

richgitz
06-30-03, 07:00 AM
That was a good one, Osotogary.
You know the old saying, You don't whats good, till you try it.
People can badmouth Ham and Motherf*****s all they want.
They always be number one in my book. SEMPER-FI to all my
Green Brothers out there.:banana: :banana: