KFC Rations

[Varmintpopper]

Anyone remember these ? Added Note: Above title should have read "KSC Rations"

[joem]

I've never seen one. By the time it was made I was out. I remember C Rats very well.

[snakehunter]

Anyone remember these ? Added Note: Above title should have read "KSC Rations"

When I was in, I would have given my left arm for some KFC

[Oyaji]

Kimchee??

[Sean P Gilday]

Korean Service Corps? 8th Army porters

[DMS42]

Weren't K-rats used when in the field by the Field Kitchen? And even were used sometimes at the home base to use them up. I think that even sometimes the cooks some C-rats, like beans and franks and lima beans and ham, at home station or at the field kitchen just to get rid of them.

[Festus39]

Yep we ate C's in the mess hall about every six months and drew replacement rations. Since we had alerts on a monthly basis our alert rations got loaded,wooled around,hauled,and finally unloaded at least once a month;the cases could get in pretty sad shape.So by eating up the old and drawing new rations we stayed ahead of that game. The cooks would open the cans,put like foods in one pot and something different in other pots,add some seasoning and heat.It was pretty good eating. The cigarettes,candy bars,gum, and P-38s went in a box down at the end of the serving line if you were interested. The toilet paper,hard crackers, drink powders,and condiments went in the trash. It only took a couple or three days of noon meals to get rid of the shopworn stuff. This was in 1957 and 58 in Germany. There were no K rations at that time to my knowledge.

[snakehunter]

Yep we ate C's in the mess hall about every six months and drew replacement rations. Since we had alerts on a monthly basis our alert rations got loaded,wooled around,hauled,and finally unloaded at least once a month;the cases could get in pretty sad shape.So by eating up the old and drawing new rations we stayed ahead of that game. The cooks would open the cans,put like foods in one pot and something different in other pots,add some seasoning and heat.It was pretty good eating. The cigarettes,candy bars,gum, and P-38s went in a box down at the end of the serving line if you were interested. The toilet paper,hard crackers, drink powders,and condiments went in the trash. It only took a couple or three days of noon meals to get rid of the shopworn stuff. This was in 1957 and 58 in Germany. There were no K rations at that time to my knowledge.

Same in the States.

[Maury Krupp]

In the States during the early '70s, once in a very blue moon there might be Cs for lunch in the mess hall. Meat units all heated in a big pot of boiling water, the rest of the box handed to you as you went through the line.

Normally any Cs we drew were eaten in the field. Any extras were stolen for midnight snacks or something to eat at the end of the month when all the mess hall had was hot dogs.

K-Rations (U.S. Army Field Ration K) were withdrawn from the supply system post-WWII and declared obsolete in 1948. Leftover stocks were used up in civilian feeding programs overseas; there were still lots of hungry people in Europe and Asia. It's highly unlikely that any GI saw a K-ration after 1946-47.

During the Korean War and for a period afterwards the U.S. supplied the ROK Armed Forces and Korean Service Corps (KSC) with rations tailored to their needs. Later of course, they made their own like the ones in the picture. Sometimes you could trade for Cs or MREs if you were near a ROK unit and were curious. I've eaten in a couple ROKAF mess halls/Sergeant's Mess and while I thought the food wasn't bad, I'm sure they felt about it the same way we felt about ours - It usually made an OK turd.

Maury

[OldDoggy]

We ate late 1940's rations at Polk in Basic, and AIT winter of '70, spring '71. Remember the 4 pack of smokes (Chesterfields and Luckies) had a V on them with a B29 superemposed on them "Buy War Bonds". Tootsie rolls and chicklets would break a tooth. Fist fights over the pound cake and peaches. AAAHHH nostalgia....... Glad I ain't got to do that again!! And in the feild in Germany when they decided the mess truck wouldn't make it we had 1950's vintage canned fare, yum. Just Another Old Doggy, Don

[Maury Krupp]

You may have been told they were 1940s rations but they weren't.

The 4-packs of smokes and pound cake were features of the Meal, Combat, Individual adopted in 1958.

The WWII U.S. Army Field Ration-C and post-war Ration, Individual, Combat were distinctly different from the MCI in both contents and packaging.

Not saying what we got (Ft Polk class of 1972) wasn't old, just that it wasn't that old :icon_wink:

Maury

[MJ1]

In 1966 I was opening 1949 and 1950 C's. Around 1967 I was using the back of the C carton as a post card and they were dated 1953 to 1958. Tasted the same. LOL Only the cigaret boxes changed. In '67 I had not seen a Chesterfield or Pall Mall unfiltered cig in years but there they were in the C rat box. Fruit cocktail was still the same. Anyone remember shake-a-puddin? A wise man could trade pudding up in the hills for LRRP rations in 1968. We thought these were the end all late night snacks because SOG/MACV had an ice machine and a gasoline hot water heater that ran all night so the ladies could have hot water to shave with. I guy just off guard wet and cold could round up a hot LRRP stew and a cold chocolate with a pudding back. I still see today's troops gripe about the MRE rations so not much has changed. I hope P.B. and J. and/or cheese on crackers is still issued. LOL

[dave]

We had c's in mess hall in Korea 53-55. Remember the 4 pack cigaretes well! Some had Luckey's in the original green pack, early WW11! Should have saved some of those! We used to play poker with the candy bars, loser ended up with all the candy. Even the Korean kids didn't want it!

[Sharpshooter]

I think most people confuse the MCI with the C Ration. The MCI was in cans and packaged in a similar manner to C rations , but it was supposed to be the improved ration or so they said. If you ate a C Ration then you were in around the time of Korea or shortly after. FWIW we were eating MCI and LRP rations dated in the late 60's to early 70's right up to the time the MCI was replaced by the MRE. I actually liked the peaches and pound cake in the MCI , it was a real treat and I think everyone wanted that menu. Ham and Mothers was universally despised by all. The K Ration was pre WWII and WWII, I remember my Grandfather having virtually nothing to say good about the K. He said that the Breakfast menu with ham and eggs was more palatable than most but still nothing to write home about.


As for my own experience I ate enough MCI rations that I was ready for that Deuce that would eventually show up at some point with those mermite cans that had the green scrambled eggs in them, complete with the water that have managed to condense in the container or on occasion managed to slosh into the insert while being moved from point to point.

The one thing that was continually amazing to me was how they would bring out that OD painted silver bullet full of steaming coffee that was sufficiently hot enough to scald the skin off of you and shortly after being dispensed in your canteen cup would be ice cold in a matter of minutes.

Those were all good times.