Food our soldiers ate...... (meals, bottles, orange, ham)

[Grandpa Pipes]

Poking around today and found a story about the old "C" rations of the past. I ate my share of both C & K ratios in S.E.Asia 40+ years ago!

I noted that these food rations also included a package of condoms and a small package of Old Gold cigarettes.

My how times have changed since I served......

C-ration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Fontucky]

MCI, Meals, Combat, Individual... sometimes known as the C-ration. That's what I ate in the service in the early to late seventies. I had my favorite items, and being a non-smoker I could trade the little 4-packs of cigs for an entree or dessert item I preferred, especially if I drew the hated can of chopped ham and eggs. There was a mix of cigarette brands in every case... something for everyone.

I also don't like Tabasco sauce, so I was able to hoard the little bottles of that stuff for barter. I made out fairly well.

Some of the cans of food I liked so well, I'd eat them today if given the chance. Especially the orange nut cake, sliced beef and potatoes, ham and mofos, and the beefsteak.

[DewDropInn]

For some reason my dad kept a few of these after WWII. I can remember him showing them to us kids in the early 60's. They did not look wonderful. Even un-opened. (Come to think of it since he was a Depression child who never threw anything out - because you never know what might come in handy 40 years later - I can understand that he kept them.)

Oh, and the condoms. We kids didn't get to see those! But somewhere along the line we heard about the films the GIs were shown before they went overseas.