Army chow...SOS in particular.

[Art]

The first thing I learned in the Army was to not eat the scrambled (dehydrated) eggs

[RED]

I remember one time when we didn't have any ice cream for nearly 2 days! It was tough on those Carriers.

[Shooter5]

They still serve it! I see it most every morning in chow halls. Toast isn't so common nowadays, they usually have regular biscuits but you can get the toast over by the coffee.

[BEAR]

Up all night, raining buckets, cold, shivering ... Top arrives in the jeep with the mermites full of breakfast. Nothing more satisfying than a mess tin full of steaming SOS and a canteen cup full of joe.
Thanks for the memories.
BEAR

[Redleg13a]

I always hated the stuff and can't stand it to this day. Same with my dad. He told me one time not long after he and mom got married, mom fixed SOS and he told her never to fix it again. She never did either. I think my first exposure to it was Ft Benning and I tried it once. That's it. That and lima beans were the only thing I wouldn't eat while in Basic. We had to eat everything else because we didn't get snacks! Still, I couldn't bring myself to eat those two items.

Now, sausage gravy is a mighty fine meal. Just leave the beef out of it.....

[Sarge]

I did 4 years, 66-70 in the army.
I don't ever recall having SOS in a chowhall. We had it at home-ok as I recall.
My recollection is the messhall chow of those days was abysmal. Makes me sick thinking about it.
CIDG "PIR" indigenous rations were the worst thing I ever ate, including the can of fish parts.

I've always liked SOS. Had it as a kid, we called it dried beef gravy.
I don't know where you ate, but I can remember SOS at every Army mess hall I was ever at. I also got it sometime at Naval Air Stations.
I found some chow halls much better than others, but most were very good.
Can't believe you didn't like the PIRs. There were about half of the varieties I wouldn't eat, but the other half were good! Thus I made sure I had the ones I liked when we went to the boonies.
Sarge

[Nick Riviezzo]

Maybe the PIRs weren't that great but at least in the boonies you smelled like the rest of the gooks if you ate them regularly. Nick

[Rodd Knox]

What I don't understand is folks who eat sausage gravy but won't touch a good SOS.

More for me I guess.

[Michaelp]

I never served with, or met a "gook."

I spent 20 months in country and 16 month in a border A Camp with Cambodians, Montagnards, and even some good Vietnamese LLDB.

I'm no "PC" guy, but that term and a few others some guys continue to use are offensive.

[JP11B20]

I did not care for SOS as a kid. I did like it in Army boot camp, as I was real hungry. Okay here the offical recipe.

MEAT, FISH, AND POULTRY
No.
L 052 00
CREAMED CHIPPED BEEF
Yield 100 6 ounces portion

Ingredients
BEEF,CHIPPED,DRIED,CHOPPED
WATER,WARM
MILK,NONFAT,DRY
WATER,WARM
MARGARINE,SOFTENED
FLOUR,WHEAT,GENERAL PURPOSE
PEPPER,BLACK,GROUND
Issue
Measure
Weight
7 lbs
8-1/3 lbs
1-3/4 lbs
31-1/3 lbs
1-1/2 lbs
2-1/4 lbs
1/2 oz
1 gal
3 qts
3 gal 3 qts
3-1/8 cup
2 qts
2 tbsp
Method
Separate dried beef slices, cut into 1-inch slices.
Place beef in 190 F. water. Soak 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
Reconstitute milk. Heat to just below boiling. DO NOT BOIL.
Combine butter or margarine with flour and pepper; add to milk, stirring constantly. Cook 5 minutes until thickened.
Add beef to sauce; blend well. CCP: Internal temperature must reach 145 F. or higher for 15 seconds. Hold for service at 140 F. or higher.

[mike24d20]

GOOK was slang for Nathinal Victor Charlie. An JAP an NAZI are polite terms used to talk about two worthless socities durning WW2. An the way our politicians treated our Allies after Nam is unforgivable.

[phil441]

Thanks for the recipe. I remember my dad telling the story of him returning from the Navy after WWII. The first meal my mom served him was "creamed chipped beef on toast". His response was to say, oh great! SH** ON A SHINGLE. I guess that's why she never made it again. At least that I remember.....
My first experience with it was stepping off a bus at Lackland AFB (for basic training) at oh-dark-thirty and being herded to the chow hall for a serving of SOS. I decided that if military life was all going to be that good then all was OK. Turned out the SOS was the best part.

[Nick Riviezzo]

Michaelp, I'm sorry the term "gook" offended you .I had no such intent.I too,spent a little time in RVN and had some close aquaintences on"our side".My comment was made to point out something I learned in the USAF's Jungle Survival Course at Clark AFB.It was obvious that you shouldn't shower with Life Bouy soap, deoderant, etc. and go in the boonies but the Negritos employed by the USAF as aggressors could literally smell your B.O. from 10- 20 feet!Unless you assumed the life style AND DIET of the enemy[NVA, VC. or whatever ] your B.O. in the bonnies could give you away.BTW, my first tour I spent 9 months in an A team on the Cambodian border[I was med-evacced out].My other two tours were flying but after 33 months fighting and bleeding for the South Viets while their two faced civilian populace would lie, cheat, beg, borrow, or steal us blind they, as a people, did little to earn my respect. I did have a lot of professional respect for the NVA. They were enemy but they were dedicated,trained, and well equipped soldiers.Again, sorry to upset your apple cart but that's is about all the sympathy I can muster for the Viets. Nick

[Michael Tompkins]

It's funny the direction some of these threads can take, isn't it? Make me chuckle sometimes... Mike

[El Paso Mark]

This is making me hungry. Loved Army SOS. Navy SOS (Chipped beef) not bad, but certainly not as good as the real thing. Man, nothing like two shingles topped with 2 over medium eggs and smothered with SOS! The Ft. Bliss Rod & Gun Club serves SOS on the weekends. It's listed on the menu as- SOS.

Best messhall I ever ate in? Pax River Naval Air Station, Pax River, Md.

Cheers,

Mark