| Tango01 | 26 Aug 2021 9:46 p.m. PST |
"An old saying declares that an army marches on its stomach, meaning it needs food to survive, thrive and conquer. Soldiers, sailors and Marines were often far from their mess halls, galleys and field kitchens during World War II, so they had to haul around heavy boxes of prepackaged food to survive. The rations they carried were known as C-Rations, but were more often referred to as "C-Rats."…" More here
link Armand |
| Grelber | 27 Aug 2021 2:47 a.m. PST |
A friend's father was in the National Guard when we were growing up in the mid-60s, and was rather disgruntled to be given rations that came with a brand of cigarettes that had been discontinued soon after WWII. Grelber |
troopwo  | 27 Aug 2021 5:57 a.m. PST |
There were mnountains of these things into the seventies and still going. |
 ColCampbell | 27 Aug 2021 6:08 a.m. PST |
I was eating C-rations on field exercises in the Army into the early 1980s before they were replaced by MREs. Jim |
 FingerandToeGlenn  | 27 Aug 2021 7:08 a.m. PST |
In the early 50s they were issued to B36 crews. My dad hated the little biscuits in a tin, so I got them when they got home. |
| Wolfhag | 27 Aug 2021 7:54 a.m. PST |
Fruit cocktail, peaches, pound cake and pecan cake rolls were my favorites. Also included were 4x cigarettes of various brands. If you got a pack of Kools you could trade them for anything else. Wolfhag |
 Wolfshanza | 27 Aug 2021 9:12 a.m. PST |
Mmmmm…peaches and pound cake !  |
 Sgt Slag | 27 Aug 2021 10:34 a.m. PST |
My best friend, as a boy, had a father who served in the National Guard. We ate C-rations he brought home for us. They came with really poor can openers, which we gladly tried: they worked, barely. The food wasn't bad, to a kid. That was in the mid-1970's. Brings back memories of my youth… Thanks for posting this, Armand! Cheers! |
| machinehead | 27 Aug 2021 11:59 a.m. PST |
Tuna, pears and ham and eggs were my favorites. Didn't smoke back then so I traded them for gum or coffee. Still have a p38 from back then on my key chain. |
| Tango01 | 27 Aug 2021 3:26 p.m. PST |
Good memories!… thanks! Armand |
| Frederick | 27 Aug 2021 4:18 p.m. PST |
An old buddy who served in Vietnam had a particular dislike for the ham and lima beans – for which he had a much more colourful name! |
| Wolfhag | 27 Aug 2021 6:07 p.m. PST |
Nick names:
Beef & Potatoes = Beef & Rocks
Ham & Eggs = Ham & M- F-
round Cocoa Bar with chopped peanuts = S--- Disk Many guys put hot sauce on everything. Wolfhag |
| JAFD26 | 27 Aug 2021 7:11 p.m. PST |
They were available from local military surplus store in the late '70's. ISTR they were $0.23 USD each or 5/$1. I'd probably hate them, if they were all I had to eat, but they seemed pretty good, heated up with a bit of seasoning (or are these just glossed-over memories of being young and broke and hungry ???) |
| Marc33594 | 29 Aug 2021 6:42 a.m. PST |
Yup. If you got the fruit cocktail or the peaches try to pair up with someone who had the pound cake. As to poor can opener I always found the P-38 pretty darn good and still have one or two around. |
checks out the Panthers for D-Day: Germans.
