Quartermaster Heebee Jeebies

[Griff Murphey]

My brother says when he goes into an Army surplus store he smells that 782 gear smell and gets these. Diesel smells always remind me of riding in deuce and a halfs. Any particular smells or sounds that bring back memories to you guys?

[stefor]

GI canvas, burning JP4, cockpits of old sweaty aircraft and men who havent showered in recent history

[M1Tommy]

To me, even on museum ships, every Navy ship interior smells of paint, grease/oil, sweat, pee and puke in varying degrees.

Tommy

[IditarodJoe]

On the one or two occasions since my Navy days when I've had access to truly fresh bananas, the smell has reminded me of all of the fresh fruit we got aboard ship in the Med in the early 1970s. Fresh bananas are to store-bought bananas what a fresh caught tuna steak is to Starkist.

[IditarodJoe]

The only really awful smell I recall from my time in the Navy was the stench outside the galley at Great Lakes in 1964. I still remember that putrid, gut-twisting odor vividly but mercifully I've never run across anything like it since.

[scmcgeorge]

C-130 exhaust in oppressive heat loading AC at Green Ramp, Ft. Bragg NC. One time crew chief was out of barf bags so handed out a 55 Gallon trash bag for us to share.... not a great idea. Steve McG

[Major Tom]

Yeah, raw sh!t and piss and that god awful numyuk (sp) I smelled everyday in 'Nam. Not to mention burning sh!t barrels.

[nf1e]

Add the smell of JP fuel exhaust to the burning sh!tters, especially for the first couple of days after malaria pills and even the maggots are gagging.
Now picture the Vietnamese civilians that are burning the stuff in barrels searching for anything we may have dropped while using the 6 seaters and you will blow lunch for sure. At least it still makes me feel that way.
48 years and that smell is still in my mind.
Recovery was worse, but not as memorable.

[Dan Shapiro]

"GI canvas smell".......also known as MRT (mildew resistant treatment)

[Oyaji]

The stale, foul odor that emits from a submarine when the hatch is opened after a patrol.

[Oyaji]

The rotten smell of dead and decaying sea life that clings to a drydocked ship or submarine hull after the dock is pumped dry.

[Darreld Walton]

If I get a whiff of strong mouse odor, my mind flashes immediately to the bottom of a Minuteman launch tube. Stale air, putrid water, nitroglycerine headaches, sodium chromate, and a lot of solvents do the same thing.

[S.A. Boggs]

Burnt Bacon
Sam

[Vern Humphrey]

Rice wine. The dinks had xxxx in their packs, and after a fight the smell of rice wine hung around.

[John Sukey]

The "grease pit" outside the mess hall when they took the cover off to clean it!