MRE's (emergency RV backup food)

[Rene T]

I arrived in Vietnam the same day Ho Chi Minh died. I still wonder who told him I arrived . . .

-Don- Auburn, CA

You are wrong. He died one week before I left when he heard they were releasing me after 11 months and 18 days. The last outpost I was on was in Katum which was built on the Ho Chi Minh trail

 

[ziplock]

Hubby got the last of the stale rations that he is referring to in 1980.
@DonTom

 

[DonTom]

Hubby got the last of the stale rations that he is referring to in 1980.

That explains it. That was ten years later and by then they must have had new ones that I have never seen anywhere. Ask Bo what was in the 11 others, if he can remember. I am curious how much they have changed.

Where did Bo serve? What branch?

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[DonTom]

The last outpost I was on was in Katum

Army, 25th Inf? I was in B-3-8, 4th Div, September 1969-70. Mostly in the Central Highland Jungles, 11B-infantry.

Did you also get to go to Cambodia for the May/June 1970 Cambodia incursion?

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Rene T]

Did you also get to go to Cambodia for the May/June 1970 Cambodia incursion?

-Don- Auburn, CA

I was home by that time. We were very close to Cambodia. I was in the artillery and once in a while we had fire missions which we dropped rounds in there. I was on a 105 howitzer

 

[DonTom]

I was on a 105 howitzer

Oh yeah, you were those guys who shook us grunts off the ground when we were trying to sleep for our two hours!

Yeah, two hours on and two hours off for an entire year, no exceptions, as we followed the same rules the very few times we were on basecamps because then we became we became the perimeter guards for the base camp. We usually got enough sleep, but only two hours at a time non-stop for a full year.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Edd505]

Yeah, those got traded a lot. Some of the worse meals had some of the best other stuff, such as that pound cake. The only cake that wasn't good was the fruit cake. But even it was okay if hungry enough.

What year did Bo serve? And where? Anybody else here remember Tuna in the C-rats? I think I have heard it mentioned before, but I never saw such with my own eyes. Perhaps in the very old cases which we rarely saw by the time I was in Vietnam (September 3, 1969 to 1970).

I arrived in Vietnam the same day Ho Chi Minh died. I still wonder who told him I arrived . . .

-Don- Auburn, CA

He ate c-rats GI's buried.

 

[HueyPilotVN]

I was one of the last flights out of Cambodia at the end of the mission. I took the brass to a military Hand Off at the Nak Long ferry where the Mekong river meets Highway 1 in Cambodia.

I had been on a 30 day leave, (Back in the World as we called it), between my two tours in the Delta.

I got back in time to catch the end of it.

Edit:

I took these pictures of a couple of Cambodian military helicopters on that day.
Without pictures it did not happen, right Mr Rainy.

 

[HueyPilotVN]

The day before several helicopters with members of the Viet Namese government visited Koor Kep This far western village on the coast. We landed in a soccer field. A few Cobras were flying security for the VIPs and they were flying low level over the ocean west of the village.

My general who grew up in indochina, (his family were in the Diplomatic Corp), told us about seeing large schools of poisonous sea snakes in that water as a kid.

The Cobras quickly came off the deck so they could make the beach if they had an engine failure.

 

[Rene T]

Without pictures it did not happen, right Mr Rainy.

That’s right Bill:

 

[Papa1947]

We were given C-Rats in basic at Lackland when we couldn’t get back to the chow hall. They were okay. When we bivouacked we were made to purchase MRE’s. The first generation MRE’s were terrible. We either ate them or nothing. Our separate rats were suspended when in the field so we paid for the MRE’s whether we wanted to eat or not.

Only ones worth eating was Beef Spiced with Sauce. Then a little hot sauce helped. In 1967 they were giving us stuff from WW2. But after a day in the jungle or the rice paddies it was something to eat.

 

[DonTom]

Only ones worth eating was Beef Spiced with Sauce.

I don't recall that one, but the oldest ones we ever had in 1969 were the C-rats from the Korean war.

In the newer c-rats we had the "beef with potatoes". Large can. One of the better C-rat meals.

-Don- Cottonwood, CA

 

[Papa1947]

I don't recall that one, but the oldest ones we ever had in 1969 were the C-rats from the Korean war.

In the newer c-rats we had the "beef with potatoes". Large can. One of the better C-rat meals.

-Don- Cottonwood, CA

I carried those old cans in a sock hanging down off my belt while humping the boonies.
I used to save things from different meals and put them together and make a pizza.
Always topped it with Beef Spiced with Sauce. Sometimes heated over a piece of C4 or just put it back in the box they came in and lit the box on fire to make an oven. Hard to do when we were in the rice paddies. I remember once we in one all day and it was over our waist. Stopped to eat so I used my helmet as a table floating in the water.

 

[DonTom]

Stopped to eat so I used my helmet as a table floating in the water.

Ever boil a "Montagnard Potato" in your "steel pot"?

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Reinigm]

When I was in the army in the 60s, we had the WWII Krations. And they actually tasted pretty good. They only had the manufacture date, and not expiration date. The pecan cake was the best. The meat was buried in grease which made them last a while. Ours weren't meant to stop you up. I think it was the opposite.

 

[DonTom]

When I was in the army in the 60s, we had the WWII Krations. And they actually tasted pretty good. They only had the manufacture date, and not expiration date. The pecan cake was the best.

Pecan cake? Are you sure those were not from the Korean war (Boxed in the 1950's)?

But I have never seen the WW2 rations. I was in RVN in late 1969.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Papa1947]

Ever boil a "Montagnard Potato" in your "steel pot"?

-Don- Auburn, CA

Ever boil a "Montagnard Potato" in your "steel pot"?

-Don- Auburn, CA

No but I used my steel pot for a chair.