Used to put them on the voltage regulators to heat. To eating our faithful C rations. Thanks for your interesting accounts, and for your service. Left the nam brought one home should have seen the looks I got. It had a flavor I can not duplicate to this day. Only once was stupid enough to eat the WHOLE LRRP ration at onne, swells up pretty big after the water goes down! With me it seemed the meals that were my least favorite when I first arrived in country were my favorite ones towards the end of my tour. No heat tablets before Vietnam. You are describing a military mess kit, but they were not used by most GIs in Viet Nam. Jerry. Even though America gov. C-ration cigarettes were discontinued in 1972. As I recall, only about 30% of the soldiers in my platoon did not smoke. I really enjoyed reading these replies about c-rations and your experiences in Vietnam. Wait until they run out of cigarettes and trade them for C-Rats. Each menu contained approximately 1200 calories and consisted of: One canned meat course One canned fruit or cake Thank you so much. recovered jeep. They are not any where near as sensitive as civilian explosives. when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. Explore Vietnam C Ration Cigarette with all the useful information below including suggestions, reviews, top brands, and related recipes,. I lived on pound cake and chicken noodle soup cooked with a pinch of C4. C $19.38. Give me pears or apricots any time. This isnt Larry Craft from Pittsburgh, is it? to a pack. After a short naval round almost blew us away, I smoked too many of those Lucky Strike four packs and suffer today as a result. When I was in there were four: apricots, pears, fruit cocktail and peaches. My father told me that it was a food container, made of stainless steel, where the lid doubles as a frying pan of a sort, and the strap handle could extend into a handle for the pan (I hope that made sense..). I thought that smoking American cigarettes was a big mistake. Cigarettes, once considered crucial to American fighting men, have sadly gone the way of the daily rum ration. $100.00 Vintage Complete Sealed Vintage Complete Sealed Vietnam Era Us C Rations Accessory Packet Wspoon Vintage Complete Sealed Vietnam Era Us C Rations Accessory Packet Wspoon. Pingback: A brief history of coffee in the US military, Your website really help me and my grandson doing a paper on me. Yes of course the C-Rations survived the bears. (LogOut/ https://charliecompany.org/2012/04/20/c-rations/ Reply With []. Enjoy! Meatballs and beans! That was the beginning of the Tet Offensive and the hot meals were few. My last CO loved them. Dont forget to stir before putting over fire. Viet Nam most of 68. 1960s US GI Vietnam era C-Ration PLASTIC SPOON Brand New $14.95 klink-one (11,878) 99.9% Buy It Now Free shipping 125 sold Sponsored Vintage Vietnam era unopened Combat C Rations B1 B2 B3 Unit Crackers & Candy Brand New $45.00 southern-surplus2016 (1,355) 100% or Best Offer Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. $45: VE-1225 Vietnam Boxed lock and keys. Hey me too other good ones were Beans and Balls Beans and Dicks Beef and Potato couldnt eat the egg thing spaghetti could not be cooked in the can, it would just rise up as a blob, cold top and burned bottom Ive got peaches, whos got the pound cake, I saved my ham & lima beans until we returned to the rear, then put the on the stove, boiling hot with a little hot sauce made me happy, Wow, how did we survive. Sometimes I auction off a pack of cigarettes and the highest bidder will give me a whole C-Rat meal. We never had cold meals. Although officially a new ration, the MCI was derived from and very similar to the original C-Ration, and in fact continued to be called "C-Rations" by American troops throughout its production life as a combat ration (1958-1980). Toilet paper and mosquito juice in band on our steel pot to keep them dry. The next thing I got was the MREs. The can fit the input chute clip perfectly and provided a smooth curved surface for the linked 7.62s to feed ammo into the M-60. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! A typical . L/Cpl P.T. The MCI was intended as a modest improvement over the earlier canned Type C or C ration, with inclusion . Brand New. You could boil a canteen cup of water with a pea-size ball of it in 30 seconds. The brothers always would trade for Menthols. Broight back some memories for me from my year in the bush. I agree almost entirely with you assessment of taste and quality and preferences, with one exception: I was a combat photographer with the First Air Cav, and made it my personal mission to photograph an op from each of our original 8 infantry battalions , all of our artillery battalions, and the engineer and cavalry units, plus every company in the Aviation brigade. Serving in the Marine corps the beef stew in cans, cold,! In the field 90% of my tour. Did not see mention of toothpick that you chewed one end for toothbrush ( sucked). If you lucked into the peach can, you could trade it for almost anything. B-unit: (3) 12 ounce cans of bread, coffee and sugar. Abovecrew members on a UH-1 helicopter deliver C-rations to soldiers in the field during the Vietnam War. Reunion 2006 Grand Lakes O The Cherokees,OK, Audie Murphy Presidential Medal ofFreedom, https://charliecompany.org/2012/04/20/c-rations/, http://1-22infantry.org/pics4/richard.htm, Army C Rations: 21 Cool Facts - Citizen Soldier Resource Center. WWII US Army Marine Corps K- Ration inner wax box ration Dinner ad vertisement by noviopera. Chrissy 34 watchers That was when I had the idea to start my own sauce company. Patrick Douglas Erb was there from Oct.20,1970-March 15,1971. Thought it was really good. i was in from 1966 to 1972. i never ate a c ration that was younger than me. Always cigarettes, toilet paper and matches. Three? yes i remember . Posted by webmaster webmaster has not yet written their Bio. Moak joked earlier this week that he hoped the can wouldnt explode. Toward the end of my tour, we began having access to the freeze-dried LRRP meals. (LogOut/ Plate. I always enjoyed the pears and it went great with the pound cake. We called it Coco mo. from United Kingdom. Zone (450 sq miles of mangrove). There was also a separate "tobacco . These things have left a deep impression on him, and he recalls to those memories fondly, despite the trying period his country was facing during that time. The first and last time I ate that meal. The components of the MCI were the M - "Meat Unit", the B - "Bread Unit", and D - "Dessert Unit". I wanted to see more of his brave journey. Marines were not great cooks, but they were inventive. 3-1969 to Feb 1970. During the 1960s C-ration cigarettes were identical to the sample packs of four that tobacco salesreps handed out to the public. Id get an onion from FSB mess tent and chop them up into whatever meat I was eating, thank god LURPs became widely available for the 2nd half of my tour because I just couldnt stomach Cs other than the fruit. Where can I buy this rations ?I like this food too much. Actually, I has been liking and still remember those good smell and tasty of those Military canned food. Havent heard that in eons. l drove a 5 ton dump and heated meals for everybody on the manifold a hot can of SOS in your belly goes a long way towards boosting your spirits. I have a few fng stories about Cs. Non-smokers were known to swap the C-rats cigarette. The local food in Thailand deserves its stellar reputation. Opening a claymore , take a ball of c 4, light it Lots of exploded food and they had to clean up the tail of the ship. Vietnam C Rations and Stuff Cigarette Coupons Free Printable Free Coupons By Mail Newport Cigarettes Nostalgia Marlboro Cigarette Vintage Metal Signs Okinawa American History Vietnam War - included in each C-Ration; great for batering if a non-smoker Military Life Military History Military Food Veterans United Military Signs Military Ranks I liked ham and limas. Ive also created a poll to help identify my website audience before leaving, can you please click HERE and choose the one item best describing you. A small chunk of C-4 explosive could also be substituted for the Trioxin tablet for faster heating. Yes I remembered those olive canned food because my dad, VNs regime Officer before 1975, let me tried > canned of chocolate in foil, cake, peach, M&M, shredded pork ( ? Fortunately I was able to run down a medic with some antacid. Smoking in the services came under attack in the 1980s. Everyone like cake after that. One thing I remember about Cs was the fruit. I was hoping you could help me identify a certain piece of equipment that soldiers used to cook/reheat their meals during the Vietnam War. But it was usually raining. They Tried! C-rations featured options that included a variety of entrees, like spaghetti and meatballs, turkey loaf, ham and eggs, etc. Despite the new name, the MCI was still popularly referred to by the troops as "C-Rations" (or "Charlie rats"), which it resembled in nearly all respects. I was an US ARMY Veterinary food inspector from 1967 to 1987. Water was critical. We got Cs from both the old menu (1950s and early 1960s) which included such delectable stuff as ham & mothers, beef & rocks, canned bread and so forth. It would swell up and we wood take it away from the exhaust port until it went back to its original size. I grew up in Pensacola,and lived on tabasco sauce for my oysters and everything else, and while in Nam I came up with an idea for my own hot sauce for eating c rations with,and wrote it down in a notebook we kept our call signs and frequencies in. Gentlemen, I was wondering if you ever ate at a local shack/stall in town or did you ever go fishing? l would buy and eat them today if someone was to make em. The daily ration of 3 meals provides approximately 3600 calories., 1 Beef w/Spiced Sauce, Halved Apricots, Peanut Butter, B-1 Unit crackers, candy, 2 Tuna Fish, Quartered Pears, Peanut Butter, B-1 Unit crackers, candy, 3 Ham and Eggs, Chopped, Quartered Pears, Peanut Butter, B-1 Unit crackers, candy, 4 Pork, Sliced, Cooked with Juices, Halved Apricots, Peanut Butter, B-1 Unit crackers, candy, 5 Beans w/Frankfurter Chunks in Tomato Sauce, Blackberry Jam, Fruitcake, B-2 Unit crackers, cocoa beverage powder, 6 Beef Slices and Potatoes w/Gravy, Pineapple Jam, Orange Nut Roll, B-2 Unit crackers, cocoa beverage powder, 7 Spaghetti w/Beef Chunks in Sauce, Peach Jam, Cinnamon Nut Roll, B-2 Unit crackers, cocoa beverage powder, 8 Beans w/Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce, Grape Jam, Pound Cake, B-2 Unit crackers, cocoa beverage powder, 9 Beefsteak, Sliced Peaches, Cheese Spread, Cheddar Plain, B-3 Unit crackers, candy, 10 Chicken or Turkey Boned, Cheese Spread, Cheddar Plain, Fruit Cocktail, B-3 Unit crackers, candy, 11 Ham Sliced, Cooked with Juices, Cheese Spread, Cheddar Plain, Fruit Cocktail, B-3 Unit crackers, candy, 12 Turkey Loaf, Cheese Spread, Cheddar Plain, Sliced Peaches, B-3 Unit crackers, candy. If I admit to actually liking and trading for ham & lima beans, does that imply Im strange beyond? Everything was always better with Tabbasco Sauce to spice it up. I am a VA RN and a volunteer wildland firefighter / EMT-B. It was great when someone got a care package from homewe all shared. I do not smoke so I save the small pack of cigarettes. Ive been missing those Olive can food image and its opener tool. Thanks for this article and thanks all American officers and soldiers in the field of VN war. 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. That part didn't last long after the war, as the dangers of smoking cigarettes became more widely known. Technically, the C-ration of the Vietnam-era was a different thing than the World War II C-ration, but troops still called it a "C-rat," and it was very similar in packaging and content. 4.) Popular products. Free delivery for many products! wished Id known that neat way of PBJ. Using a John Wayne (a P-38) pierce a series of closely spaced holes around the top and bottom rims of the can. I have great memories of C-Rations. The absolute worst, in my opinion, was the ham & eggs, chopped. Though intended only for use in combat conditions, troops often ate K-rations for weeks on end, and they quickly tired of the monotonous meals. great footlocker or combat field pack display item. PHU BAI, CAMP CARROLL, NAM 66/67. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Nov 16, 2013 at 2338hrs, Being an MACV Advisor C-rations always tasted good when ever we had a chance to beg some. Well not like from our great restaurants. Forty years later, Henry A. Moak, Jr., still loves his pound cake. Potable water ( without iodine tablets mixed) was difficult to obtain in the field. My story is written in letter form with letters to the characters father, to Walter Cronkite and to some other people. Hi, I also still have my P-38. Need Easy, Nutritious Food While Blacktail Deer Hunting. So the food on a paper Welcome Home my brothers & Sisters. Great detail Great Job from an old army Grunt. Your email address will not be published. I would start out with a half gallon portable bladder and it was gone by afternoon. It tasted like the congealed fat from a canned ham. Remember c rats well . Love the pound cake especially if you saved the fruit cocktail and ate them together. unopened vietnam c-ration accessory pack with cigarettes. While serving in the Central Highlands with the 1/12th Inf. ham and turkey loaf and the peanut butter, our c rats came in a white case I remember the date on them then was like 20 years old in 1968, I liked the sterno heater, they were much better warm than cold. 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. Remember chunks of pork with an inch of grease on top. 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. I appreciate the education you help to provide and for keeping it real for those like myself who have never had these experiences. Old wolfhound hereA/1/27.66,67,68..no one mentioned the hobo stove which when out of heat tabs or C-4 we would open a can of peanut butter. I ate C rats in Korea in 1960-61, and in Vietnam 65-66. There was a reason they were called Ham & Motherfuckers. Tay Nihn..68 Nui Ba Din. I could not find a meat and beans recipe. When I had my first taste of LRP Rations I thought it was food for angels. The container itself had 2 compartments. meal eggs always looked greenish . Pleasure speaking to you. | dng sng c. In the aviation community wed take a can of biscuits, poke holes in it, pour some JP4 into it, and voila a stove!! Beat the heck out of what we scrounged up to eat with our counterparts. Abandoned my country, Vietnam, in 1975, but that did not make me hating them. Some of the guys cannot stand to watch me eat one. Semper Fidelis. you have any idea how the mean and beans were made have never found a close substitute for them. These were the times that made it ok. Doc Shyab. I was the in house inspector at Granite State packing from 72 until 75. Oh, the memories. . Message me for more detailed photos and orders in bulk. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. got there 170 pounds left at a 110 pounds. son of the 2nd company president of McIlhenny Company from his experiences with C-Rations as a soldier during WWII came up with the idea to send soldiers copies of the Charlie Ration Cookbook filled with recipes for spicing up C-rations with Tabasco Pepper Sauce wrapped around two-ounce bottles of Tabasco Pepper Sauce along with a handful of a P-38 type can openers all in a waterproof canister. This is the food US soldiers ate when deployed in the Vietnam War.. 1 empty C-Ration box 1 toilet paper pack 1 book of matches 1 plastic spoon 1 P-38 can opener Open all 5 cans with the P-38 leaving the lids slightly attached on 2 biscuit cans. Pingback: Remember C-Rations? Our company left San Diego with a Navy Band giving us Marines a memorable send off. $40 . Brings back memories of a distant time.. Well presented and will share with fellow Vietnam veterans and family. Cigarettes were bad for your health along with bullets. Got to Nam in July 68 an assigned as a pilot way down in the Delta. Might you, or anyone else have an idea? We would take the white bread can open a tiny hole in it and put a few drops of water in ithold it over a ball of C-4 to instantly steam itopen the can cut the bread add peanut butter and jelly, and wow warm peanut butter and jelly sandwich on hot bread. Oh man, I love your story. Yuck. Yes they did in WWI, WWII and right up to Vietnam. DD345 - Liberty Pass. Larry, as a young WO1 pilot just reporting to Nam, making and using the crew chief stove was one of the first thing my crew chief taught me to do. I was always thankful that there was a medic around after I ate the Spiced Beef. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Scan of original thanks to Dave Stieghan. As the Doughboys went to France, the ration changed. All those you show here was my usual meals at the jungle in Vietnam. lol guess I was not human. if so, what was the dogs favorite meal? What do you think? As a historian, these are important details as even food technologies change. Honestly, the scrambled egg chunks or beans and weenies werent bad cold, but the rest needed to be heated in order to be palatable. I wanted to see the reality of what the soldiers had to endure. in Nam and why I dont like fruit cocktail to this day.In the last part of my tour, it was pecan roll and coffee. Thanks for summing up all the C-ration experiences. Pour out all of the heavy syrup, and 3.) When I first got to Vietnam and was assigned to an infantry battalion in the field, I started eating Cs three meals per day. ONE ORIGINAL!! Must have been around 2006 I was surfing the web trying to find guys I served with and to my surprise I found a website from the unit I served with, 1st bn 22nd inf, 4th inf division. Excellent !! Moak got the drab olive can as a Marine helicopter pilot off the Vietnamese coast in 1973. It was illustrated by Fred Rhoads. just outside of Da Nang, we were working with the KMC. Vietnam Equipment VE-547 Choice Vietnam Jungle Boots, size 12. It replaced the earlier C-ration, which it was so similar to . God bless you all. I had a couple bites but couldnt get the rest down. Close to Mom!s chocolate cookie mix before she put on the cooking ban to bake. At times we actually had to buy cases of C-rats in Phan Thiet where there was a thriving black market. A second or B unit might include peanut butter and crackers, chocolate, gum, cigarettes, salt, pepper, and sugar, among other items. THEY WERE STILL GOOD. He was not overly fond of them, but did eat to stay alive. Food was of secondary importance. Would turn to soup. Now I know why I lost 40 LBs. 1 for 5 5 for 20 20 for 40 Keep an . I explored the possibility of having the hardware removed and obtaining a medical waiver, but the consultation I received from docs and my own inner wisdom left me deciding on the path I am currently on. Only down fall was it was instant heart burn. Because there were several "vintages" of C's issued to the Marines and Seabees 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. Really putrid stuff, For anyone who was there I was with VF213 flying Demons, flying hydraulic leaks! Levine named the threats as mold and deadly botulism if the sealing on the food has been broken, which isnt always visible. Most of us knew there were others who had it harder than than we did. Military explosives? Original Vietnam era US Military C Ration white plastic Spoon.From C Ration 382314172092. You did what you had to do and made it home to an undeservedly rough reception. I got a flashback Ill never forget those days Sometimes I would eat the pineapples, bananas or coconuts if I could get them. Any leads would be greatly appreciated! The ham and eggs were inedible. That was like eating the congealed fat from a canned ham. Wow brings back a lot of memories. Ur full of it Old Marine. SO, GOD BLESS YOU ALL. $79.95 Vietnam Us Army What brands of cigarettes were in C-Rations? Just askin, BTW: I grew up in New Orleans and knew many of the McIlhenny family. We used to make stoves by using a can opener to open up the two sides of a small can on both sides (which were then pushed in). made it somehow. The only thing I find myself craving from time to time was the instant coffee with of course dry creamer and sugar although I think it was making it in one of the C ration cans that gave it that special flavor. Through some investigation he found the manufacturer of it was Sara Lee. Photos of dissected original pack & other info is included in the pdf file. Others were downright awful (Ham and Lima beans) and passed over left behind for the Cherries when it is their turn to pick out meals.