OK, now that your memory is refreshed, do you remember how you cooked your C-Rations. This isnt Larry Craft from Pittsburgh, is it? 10 days later gulfort, mississippi.. jus lemme have a p38.. I was a crechief on Hueys who resupplied you guys. Vietnam C Ration Cigarette : Top Picked from our Experts The C-Ration, or Type C ration, was an individual canned, pre-cooked, and prepared wet ration. Gen. Walter S. McIlhenny. Free Sample first six chapters of Cherries both Written and Audiobook, Author interview War & Life: Discussions with a Veteran, Feasting on the Frontlines: The Vietnam War Discussing Food History, A brief history of coffee in the US military | We Are The Mighty, A brief history of coffee in the US military. Got to Nam in July 68 an assigned as a pilot way down in the Delta. The brands I remember are: Marlboro, Winston, Camel, Pall Mall, Old Gold, Raleigh, Salem, Kool, Chesterfield, Newport & Lucky Strike . An afternoon like this was a celebration, unfortunately, it only happened about once or twice a month. The line units were pulled out of the field on occasion, usually about once a month for three days, to enjoy home cooking, barbecues and ice-cold beer and soda a reward we always looked forward to. Each ration was composed of a B-unit and a M-unit; total weight was approximately 7 pounds. Man do I remember C rations. When I was in AIT training, I can remember eating the fortified chocolate wafers made at the Wilber Chocolate factory in Lititz, PA. and "M" (meat) units, each menu contained an accessory packet, fruit, and cigarettes. Menu. Pleasure speaking to you. Pour out all of the heavy syrup, and 3.) I carry my P38 that i had in Vietnam on my keychain. 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. This is a very nice Vietnam Era Survival Kit & Ration Packaging collectors set, with great display potential. A typical . Ur full of it Old Marine. Photos of dissected original pack & other info is included in the pdf file. We had the dubious honor of being the first Army ground unit deployed to VN in early May of 1965 from Okinawa and all enjoyed consuming our fair share of those gourmet C rations. Contents:12 ounces of bacon or one pound of meat (usually canned Corned Beef), two 8-ounce cans of hard bread or hardtack biscuits, a packet of 1.16 ounces of pre-ground coffee, a packet of 2.4 ounces of granulated sugar, and a packet of 0.16 ounces of salt. A whole heat tab had to be used. Jerry. You were the unsung heroes of Army aviation. Only down fall was it was instant heart burn. I lived on peaches & pound cake for breakfast with hot chocolate. In 1976 I found the notebook in some old Marine stuff I was going through and I finally got to make the sauce,and it was pretty darn good. I remember the first c-ration meal we received. From Sylmar, CA. The foil pieces are 1.75"x1.75" and 1.75"x6" in size. The dilemma here is that water is required for these and at almost three pounds per quart; the extra weight is a consideration. New Reproduction C-Rations Available. would love to find a rec for them now Today still add sugar to store hot ccco mix and eat it. The C-4 was safe to use as long as it wasnt compressed or using too much at one time. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of these posted messages about C rations, even though Ive never tasted even one bite of food from one of those cans. Smoking in the services came under attack in the 1980s. The only thing I miss was the instant coffee with the creamer and sugar. You could buy cases of beer and soda too. Yuck. 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. It had a flavor I can not duplicate to this day. The VC had no heart pinned down one day took out my last 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 I had a couple bites but couldnt get the rest down. 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. This is the officialQuartermastersdescription 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. Dan DMZ M/co 1969 USMC Hill 461 Sieara Rock Pile , Stud, LZ MAC chopper down! Never know when you may have to open a can of crackers! (LogOut/ and heat a canteen cup of water and it provided you with quick hot water or c rations. The new menu (late 1968 onward) included good stuff like beans & weenies. 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. Toward the end of my tour, we began having access to the freeze-dried LRRP meals. We would punch a few holes in the top of the can using a P38 and add a small amount of water and heat it for a bit with a piece of C4. Well, my friends, let me refresh your memory and tell you everything you need to know but have forgotten about those wonderful meals. I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to you, and every single veteran for your honor, your valor, and for sharing what little you had with my father and our family. Popular products. We already carried 4 5 quart canteens to keep hydrated until the next resupply. As the Doughboys went to France, the ration changed. However, brilliant military minds said we could not eat there and our 12 hour shifts were intense preventing us from taking a journey to the other side. It was a common thing to trade C rations for cigarettes. Military explosives? We never had cold meals. I have a few fng stories about Cs. Four can openers are provided in each case of 12 meals. The brothers always would trade for Menthols. Smoking the local product might fool Mr. Charles. 1 for 5 5 for 20 20 for 40 Keep an . you have any idea how the mean and beans were made have never found a close substitute for them. Wait until they run out of cigarettes and trade them for C-Rats. Military explosives are designed to go through combat. I collect all of the C-Rats rejects and I have plenty to eat. Actually, I has been liking and still remember those good smell and tasty of those Military canned food. Every C-Ration meal contained a single four-pack of cigarettes; ten different brands were primarily offered, but like the meals, some were more popular than others. I was barely more than a toddler during the Vietnam war, and am a non- veteran. 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. That went for Officers and enlisted men. Enjoy! Cigarettes, once considered crucial to American fighting men, have sadly gone the way of the daily rum ration. Semper Fi. 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..). Pork Slices Ingredients: We just sold out all of our products in February 2018 except for this hot sauce,which we are going to sell as private label. I have great memories of C-Rations. I was an infantry radio operator with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, located in the Hiep Duc. fruit cocktail about to down it and a 60mm blasted my can out 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. Back in 1958 while flying the Pacific we had only Cs for flight lunches on aerial Tankers. yes i remember . The Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) was the name of canned wet combat rations issued by the United States Armed Forces from 1958 to 1980. The ration had to contain meat, bread, canned fruit, and some kind of dessert. Through some investigation he found the manufacturer of it was Sara Lee. C-Rations used in Vietnam This is the official US 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. Old Marine. I get a lot of the cans of fruit cake. They have the following menus: Ham & Eggs Ingredients: 82.5% whole egg, 9.3% of pork, onion, herbs, spices, salt, E250, E621, E300/E301, dextrose. Vietnam Era C-Ration Cigarette Pack www.hardscrabblefarm.com The photo above shows the components of the cigarette pack. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vietnam war C-Ration Cigarette Pack Winston Repro at the best online prices at eBay! It was illustrated by Fred Rhoads. PHU BAI, CAMP CARROLL, NAM 66/67. It was a luck of the draw right after we went through the gas obstacle coarse at basic training. Typical commercial brands issued in the cigarette rations in Vietnam were: Camel, Chesterfield, Kent, Kool, Lucky Strike, Marlboro, Pall Mall, Salem, or Winston. Agree pound cake slice it mix choc sugar creamer make icing. Twelve different menus are included in the specification. Thought it was really good. I do! always seemed to get to to the carton last an last was trash eating. Yes they did in WWI, WWII and right up to Vietnam. Our operation moved from the Air Force sector to the other side of the Air Base about a million miles away from our Mess facility. I liked ham and limas. Moak got the drab olive can as a Marine helicopter pilot off the Vietnamese coast in 1973. Ive read some books by Vietnam vets and it was also mentioned how to use a c-rat can for the m60. Last time I tried to replace my Cs the price had gone out of sight. My favorite meal was SPICED BEEF and GRAVY with crackers and cheese. Nuac mam.gag. one of the better memories of c rats. Mass-2 Marine attached to the 3rd Marine Div. The cigarettes were even contaminated with bugs ! However, none of us wanted to carry that much extra weight on our backs, instead, most settling for a single complete meal per day and extra cans of crackers, cakes and fruit to supplement their diet until the next resupply all stuffed into a sock and tied to the back of a rucksack. Since I didnt smoke, the cigarette 5-packs (except Chesterfields, which nobody wanted) came in handy for that. Back We just throw a fragmentation hand grenade in the pond, which is usually a bomb crater, then all of the fish will come to the surface of the water dead. https://charliecompany.org/2012/04/20/c-rations/ Reply With []. Great. The 1st Inf Div was not allowed beer in the field due to some previous incident. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Some of the guys cannot stand to watch me eat one. And at 75 years old, thats a blessing. Hated Ham and Lima beans. Daddys description was not very glowing! Glad to be on my way back to Goliad, TX so many of my buds were not so lucky. In 1966 during the Vietnam war Brig. Every once in awhile they would send us out real food and some Beer and coke. so what did you feed your dog in nam? 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. taste of C-rats in 1975 in basic training at Fort Polk La. Greg Dearborn says: Even though America gov. Moak joked earlier this week that he hoped the can wouldnt explode. Turkey packed in 30 weight motor oil was the worst. Not to bad either! Listing is for 1x Pin Badges, please specify the design at checkout or a random ones will be sent out. Once I got some pancakes that had been stuffed down an elephant rubber. Crash fire. $79.95 Vietnam Us Army Now I know why I lost 40 LBs. At times we actually had to buy cases of C-rats in Phan Thiet where there was a thriving black market. I dont recall eating many of the meals warm. Read about all of these, noticed that none of you brothers mentioned using the tin of peanut butter as a stove. Yes of course the C-Rations survived the bears. Voilatoasted cheese sandwich. I do have a question the meat and beans I liked but raised on beans, I recently found and on line copy of the Us Army cook book. THEY WERE STILL GOOD. If you want to learn more about the Vietnam War and its Warriors, then subscribe to this blog and get notified by email or your feed reader every time a new story, picture, video or changes occur on this website the button is located at the top right of this page. I got a flashback Ill never forget those days Sometimes I would eat the pineapples, bananas or coconuts if I could get them. Most of them were manufactured the year I was born, or the next after. I remember the first time we got to sample some Cs just after we went threw the gas obstacle back in basic training. C-Rations varied considerably through their 20 plus year service. The first and last time I ate that meal. Only once was stupid enough to eat the WHOLE LRRP ration at onne, swells up pretty big after the water goes down! Warrant officer. 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. And my brothers. 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. It would burn hotter and was much better for heating water. Did not see mention of toothpick that you chewed one end for toothbrush ( sucked). (LogOut/ (LogOut/ I remember that there were no hot meals and you learned the hard way what each unit in the box contained. It replaced the earlier C-ration, which it was so similar to . So I gave my last Cs to a Boy Scout Troop and switched to freeze-dried packets (civilian version of MREs) . Really putrid stuff, For anyone who was there I was with VF213 flying Demons, flying hydraulic leaks! The Armycolonelpopped open an old military C Ration can of pound cake from 1969 at his retirement ceremony, and dug in. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Cigarettes. just outside of Da Nang, we were working with the KMC. Any leads would be greatly appreciated! I too was in Berlin during the cold war. Good article. It tasted like delicious warm and moist cake fresh from the bakery. In 1966 during the Vietnam war Brig. Find great deals on eBay for c rations cigarettes. When out on missions, infantry units were re-supplied with food, water, ammunition, clothes and other items by helicopter every three to five days. Vietnam (1961-75) Collectibles; Militaria; Vietnam (1961-75) Original Period Items; Other Vietnam War Orig. It`s the meal that had the pound cake. | dng sng c. Photo via Wikipedia. When we were operating our radio nets in the outback wilds of Fort Riley, KS, wed put our I was a cold war veteran spending my 3 years in Germany, but we were issued them for field trips, alerts and exercises. Living in Florida, for years I kept a couple of cases of Cs on hand as part of my hurricane supplies. Love the pound cake especially if you saved the fruit cocktail and ate them together. Water was critical. I really enjoyed Meat balls & beans. In Vietnam I was with Regional and Popular Force troops in Rung Sat Special You could boil a canteen cup of water with a pea-size ball of it in 30 seconds. Most were tossed because they didnt want to clean them or carry the extra bulk in favor of the canteen cup which fit around the canteen and in the pouch plus it made no noise while you were walking around compared to the rattle of the utensils in your mess kit. Thank you for your time. Got some Phillip Morris cigarettes in a dark brown package PM quit using the dark brown package in the late 1940s thats how old some of the Cs were. Do you remember your special recipes? During the 1960s C-ration cigarettes were identical to the sample packs of four that tobacco salesreps handed out to the public. Marines were not great cooks, but they were inventive. I was on Google looking up information on c-rat socks as this is a new term that I just learned and that is how I arrived here. Due to health concerns, cigarettes were eliminated from the accessory packs in 1975. I served in Co. B, 1/12th, 1st Air Cav I 1967-68. 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. God bless you all. Remember chunks of pork with an inch of grease on top. Great walk down memory lane. C-rations and m-60 mechine gun and GOD are what got me through tough times . Patrick Douglas Erb was there from Oct.20,1970-March 15,1971.