The best meal from Uncle Sam

[Trap4570]

I hate to say it - but good old SOS (toast with sausage gravy) was my best meal always. It was about the only food that would stick with me.

[Tom A]

Back in '69 on top of Monkey Mountain, Da Nang they would truck breakfast up to us. We would finish our duty a midnight and we were ready for something to eat. I remember the SOS was the BEST. I had no knowledge of SOS before I went into the service. The first time I saw it in the chow line I had my doubts but I 'll try anything once and found out it was great. Dont get it any more just a memory now and a good one.

Tom A
SSGT
USAF SECURITY POLICE

[ut1seabee]

Worst chow was boot camp at Great Lakes.Our C.C. explained that all MS's had to have a degree in chemistry.Reason being that chemists were the only people able to turn good food into s#!t. Lucky for me that was not completely true.Although,many times it was. Best chow was a toss up.NCBC Pt.Hueneme and McMurdo Sta. Antarctica. When in doubt, c rats were often the lesser of two evils.

[13Echo]

SFC Scott, the mess sergeant for C Btry 1/94FA in 1969, was an artist in the field. He would braise liver and make it not just edible but savory and juicy and as fine as the best steak. Don't ever remember a bad meal his mess produced. C Rats and the Bn mess was another story though.

Jerry Liles

[Vern Humphrey]

What, you didn't like Ham and Muthas?

In '69 my company was issued C-Rats dated 1944. It actually wasn't bad -- a little more fat than more current C-Rats. The only real problem was the cigarettes -- if you tried to light one of those, it would flare up and burn your eyebrows.

[13Echo]

Had a few Korean war C rats but no WW II, but we shot a lot of shells in the howitzers from WW II. Still went boom when they landed. Ham and Limas -- uuggh. Did you ever make GI pizza with the viennas, crackers and canned cheese? Smear the cheese on the crackers, cut up the viennas (or meat balls) on the cheese, add Tabasco if you had it, put it back in the cracker can in the C ration box and set the box on fire. I think the recipe was in the little book the Tabasco company sent out with bottles of Tabasco sauce. Wish I still had that Tabasco C Ration Cook Book.

Jerry Liles

[Vern Humphrey]

Had a few Korean war C rats but no WW II, but we shot a lot of shells in the howitzers from WW II. Still went boom when they landed. Ham and Limas -- uuggh. Did you ever make GI pizza with the viennas, crackers and canned cheese? Smear the cheese on the crackers, cut up the viennas (or meat balls) on the cheese, add Tabasco if you had it, put it back in the cracker can in the C ration box and set the box on fire. I think the recipe was in the little book the Tabasco company sent out with bottles of Tabasco sauce. Wish I still had that Tabasco C Ration Cook Book.
Jerry Liles

I reckon so! It would be quite a collector's item today. The ones we had in Viet Nam were re-prints of the original that MacIlhenny wrote when he was with the First Marine Division on Guadalcanal.

[Clark Howard]

The Navy Fleet Air Support mess hall on the west side of the airfield at Danang served meals that rivaled any that I have ever eaten, anywhere. The Army chow tent at Tien Phouc served a standing rib roast on Tuesdays that was truly excellent. The breakfast served in the SAC Alert Facility at Plattsburgh NY would make a lumberjack weep for joy. I still prefer C's to MRE's, but Lurp rations beat both. Regards, Clark

[John Sukey]

A story my father told me. They were traveling in French 40 and 8'sers during WW2, 40 men or 8 horses.
When the train stopped for a while the enlisted men immediatly got out and built small fires to cook their C-rats. One of the doctors appropriated one of the fires and set his can on it to cook. He neglected to puncture the lid. The men said nothing. When he opened the lid, he got sprayed with grease all over his glasses.

[GerryRA]

Don’t have any war stories, but a variety of chow tunes.

In Basic at Ft. Jackson, we had a Hawaiian cook. Not just pineapple ham, but pineapple juice, pineapple Jell-O, pineapple pancakes, pineapple ice-cream, pineapple sauce. Only time without pineapple was C-rats on bivouac. I never had pineapple before – great stuff. After that my Mom sent me cans of pineapple in my Care packages.

I was detailed as the Old Man’s driver and dragged in too late for supper (franks and beans). The First called the mess and told them to feed me. They fixed me fried potatoes and some of the OM’s veal cutlets!

In another outfit, on the day before payday when no one could afford to eat on the economy, we always had liver and onions. Yuck!!!

One of the guys in my squad was another Hawaiian – no pineapple for this boy. His Mom used to send him gallon jars of pickled squid – suction cups and all. When he opened that – whew - did it clean out the barracks!

Later we had a Mess Sgt. that thought his job was to make up for whatever else the Army was doing to you. Just like Mama, but no hugs. We could have all the fresh milk we wanted, but had to take equal servings of white and chocolate.

Best chow I ever had was as a civilian on TDY to Andros Island. Breakfast at the Navy mess had eggs to order – even real scrambled – bacon, sausage, real ham, pancakes, French toast, waffles, donuts and pastries. And grits – Andros is south of the Mason-Dixon Line! Lunch and dinner always had 2 entrees, plus hotdogs, burgers and fries, and Jell-O, puddings, pies, cakes, and ice-cream. All you could eat or carry away. My per diem was $5.00 and I had change left over.

[broom jockey]

Hands down, the best meal served to me was at Oakland, CA. It was steaks (T-bone) and all the trimmings and all you could eat. My last military meal as we were mustering out after a year in 'Nam.

[leftyo]

cant remember what it was, but remember being impressed by the food, and the facilities at Clark AFB, second -ate thanksgiving chow at MCRD san diego once , was excellent. 5 out of my 6 years in the Navy were on ship and all the food sucked! my first ship was an LST, and we did all we could to acquire MRE's from the jarheads. best shipboard meal was mid rats PB&J!

[madsenshooter]

Best chow was at the tanker alert facility at McConnell AFB. With 3/4 crew members being officers steak for breakfast was the norm and holidays were really something. It was way above the normal chow line. I was the gopher/clerk at the facility for awhile. Slept there in a private room, ate there, had lots of time for the recreational pursuits offered. Best job I had while in, then my good APRs got me a bad job with the SAC Drug Rehabilitation Center. I hope that old commandant died a lingering and painful death!

[Fred]

I hate to say it - but good old SOS (toast with sausage gravy) was my best meal always. It was about the only food that would stick with me.

I loved that the best too! Only I always had it poured over a big pile of taters and eggs. Man, it just didn't get any better than that!!!

[40mmgunner]

A half century ago, as one of the last 40mm Bofors gunners in the US Coast Guard, I served aboard an Ocean Station cutter out of Boston, MA (see you-tube USCGC "Bibb", Ocean Station Bravo). As Ocean Stations were in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, we could and sometimes did make port in any country and return to station again before returning to the USA. Thus our WO Storekeeper had a wad of cash to pay for reprovisioning/replenishment. Several times, before leaving Boston, he would take an informal poll of the crew and ask if we would eat beans and Wonder Bread for the first few days at sea so that he could afford a steak and lobster feed, usually just after we had left Canada (fresh lobster). On The Big Day: Steaks to order, two lobsters, fresh-baked bread, butter/melted butter in soup bowls, seconds if available -- then four weeks of pounding into 40-foot seas, 20-degree temperatures, 60 mph snow storms and 16-hours of darkness in the winter. As a 20-year-old who was going to live Forever, I remember the chow ----------------------------------------