Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
tv today.
Edrena

We once had an Easter dinner at a restaurant that we went to with some
frequency and always enjoyed. I order roast duckling. When it arrived it
was swimming in so much fat as to be inedible. The replacement was the same.
I ordered another selection, but the delay of all this ruined the overall
meal.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

"The Joneses" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> tv today.
> Edrena

In WWII my father was in the south pacific. One of his jobs was to be
stationed on small islands and atolls by himself, guarding the territory.
Once he was dropped off on an island where there were native inhabitants. He
used to shoot fish from a tree for them, and they gave him some eggs. The
eggs gave him horrible food poisoning though.

The Joneses wrote:
> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> tv today.
> Edrena

After eating C-rations for a couple of months I came back to a base
camp near Phu Bai and immediately joined a couple of buddies to drive
to DaNang. We got there too late to find anything to eat. But the
next morning we went to China Beach and had real steak and real eggs
for breakfast. Then we loaded the 3/4 ton truck with a "half
pallet"--i.e., 40 cases--of beer and drove back to our base. 37 years
later, steak and eggs is still my favorite breakfast. -aem

I remember my grandfather talking about serving in Germany during WWII.
He mentioned that he saved the life of a officer in the field and when
they returned to the ship going home to the U.S. the officer gave him a
handful of Mess tickets. (Or something similar). After so many rations
in the field he asked for and recieved a whole head of lettuce with
these Mess tickets. He then proceeded to describe in vivid detail
finding a spot to himself on the ship and eating the whole thing without
a drop of dressing.

Needless to say he ALWAYS had salad with his meals whenever I saw him
eat. No wonder no one has to force me to eat my vegetables after
watching him chow down. Talk about a great influence on kids!

Both of my grandfathers have passed and I remember them every Memorial
day. Rarely did they mention their efforts in the war, but what they did
mention gave you a hint as to the great sacrifices they made.

I salute all veterans. Thank you!

Bart D. Hull

Tempe, Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html
for my Subaru Engine Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html
for Tango II I'm building.

Remove -nospam to reply via email.

aem wrote:
> The Joneses wrote:
>
>>Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
>>meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
>>turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
>>there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
>>abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
>>And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
>>And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
>>tv today.
>>Edrena
>
>
> After eating C-rations for a couple of months I came back to a base
> camp near Phu Bai and immediately joined a couple of buddies to drive
> to DaNang. We got there too late to find anything to eat. But the
> next morning we went to China Beach and had real steak and real eggs
> for breakfast. Then we loaded the 3/4 ton truck with a "half
> pallet"--i.e., 40 cases--of beer and drove back to our base. 37 years
> later, steak and eggs is still my favorite breakfast. -aem
>

The Joneses wrote:

>Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
>meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
>turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
>there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
>abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
>And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
>And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
>tv today.
>Edrena
>
>
>
>
The Love of my life is asleep, but I'm sure she'd tell you....MRE's. A
25 year vet., she was deployed twice: the first Iraq, and Somalia. In
Iraq they had little but, and in Somalia, nothing but....MRE's. To make
matters worse, in Somalia water was rationed to 2 liters per day. MRE
stood for "Meals that Refuse to Exit."
That's why I have a rep. as a good cook....after 25 years of Army
food.....anything tastes good!

Bubba

--
You wanna measure, or you wanna cook?

Has to be Marine Corps messhall SOS. So thick you could stand a
sledgehammer in it. I loved it with over easy eggs and toast...well I
think that was toast or some kind of carbon material. I still make it
today. Yes SOS, an entire food group unto itself.

The Joneses > wrote:

I got to eat in the officer's mess at - holy cow, it's been so long -
an airbase near Chicago, used to be the home of a ton of B-52's - it's
defunct now. ANYWAY - man did they ever eat better than the peons.
Not that it was gourmet, but it sure was good and filling - and all
you can eat, naturally. Oh crap - anybody remember the name of the
place? I don't know why they called it officer's mess, either,
because it looked like the same place everyone else ate. My only
experience was working with the Marines and I don't know much about
the Air Force.

--
The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
At least now I have an excuse.

My uncle was a mess sergeant during two of his 8 years in the Army Air
Corps. He told that he was in the mess hall at 4:00 AM with the lights out,
opening eggs into a big pan. He had to do it in the dark because he didnt
want to see what he was smelling as he opened them. Needless to say he
never ate eggs after that.

He advised me to join the U.S.A.F. rather than be drafted. He said that
they and the Navy ate steak and ham, while the Army and Marines age C and K
rations. I took his advice and spent 20 in the Air Force. I honestly cant
remember getting a "bad meal". Now I look like it also.

Dwayne


"The Joneses" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> tv today.
> Edrena
>
>

"Dwayne" > wrote:

>My uncle was a mess sergeant during two of his 8 years in the Army Air
>Corps. He told that he was in the mess hall at 4:00 AM with the lights out,
>opening eggs into a big pan. He had to do it in the dark because he didnt
>want to see what he was smelling as he opened them. Needless to say he
>never ate eggs after that.

You mean, he actually used REAL eggs. I've never heard of that <G>.
I only thought the AF cooks did a real good job making powdered eggs
actually taste good.

--
The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
At least now I have an excuse.

wrote:
> Has to be Marine Corps messhall SOS. So thick you could stand a
> sledgehammer in it. I loved it with over easy eggs and toast...well I
> think that was toast or some kind of carbon material. I still make it
> today. Yes SOS, an entire food group unto itself.

I love the stuff! Creamed chipped beef on toast, biscuits, whatever Had
some for dinner 3 nights ago.

Jill

The Joneses wrote:

> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> tv today.
>

I was in the reserves and never in the regular armed forces. I remember
going away on exercises for two weeks and eating in a field kitchen. It
was cafeteria style and along with the selection of bacon, eggs, sausage,
oatmeal etc. was a big pan of baked beans. They didn't seem to bee too
popular, and each day I went back for breakfast there was the same pan
full of baked beans, getting drier and drier looking each day with large
craters developing on the surface.

My father was in the airforce during WW II and served in England from 1940
until 1944. He never told us much about the food there, except that it
was mutton and brussels sprouts most of the time, or chips and eggs.

My father in law talked a lot more about his eating experiences while he
was in the American army in France in 1918. He and his friends used do a
lot of scrounging for food and pooled their resources to make up some
interesting stews. His most memorable meal was when they collected some
money, fresh meat and other ingredients and found a French housewife who
would cook a meal for them in her house. They were all set to leave when a
messenger came to say that there was a big push on that night. He told the
messenger to say he had not found them and they went ahead for this home
cooked meal.

The most memorable story is the one I heard from a man who lived two doors
down from us who had been among those captured by the Japanese in Hong
Kong and spend 4 years in a Japanese POW camp where he witnessed horrible
atrocities, was forced to work in labour camps and almost starved to
death. They used to receive Red Cross parcels. Their favourite was the
sweetened condense milk that they would eat with a spoon, and when the
tins were almost empty they would use their fingers to mop up the residue
and like their fingers, savouring every last drop of the stuff. He would
go through the motions of wiping up the can and licking his finger and you
could see him enjoying the memory of the only positive memory of 4 years
of mistreatment.

In article >, The Joneses
> wrote:

> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> Edrena

Rob was in graduate school in the early 60's when Uncle activated his AF
Reserve unit during the Berlin thang and sent him to Etain AFB in
France. He speaks fondly of SOS on the midnight shift; says they'd
cadge chits for it from thems that weren't going to use them. He says
it was good at mignight - hot and filling. "Not the best meal I ate in
the Air Force, but it was good." (He's standing over my shoulder now
reminiscing: "Studying to be an Aero engineer, are you? Here's a
wrench - we'll work on it." He was a crewchief.)
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> 5/8/05.
"Are we going to measure, or are we going to cook?" -Food Critic Mimi Sheraton

On Tue, 31 May 2005 09:33:01 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>I was in the reserves and never in the regular armed forces. I remember
>going away on exercises for two weeks and eating in a field kitchen. It
>was cafeteria style and along with the selection of bacon, eggs, sausage,
>oatmeal etc. was a big pan of baked beans. They didn't seem to bee too
>popular, and each day I went back for breakfast there was the same pan
>full of baked beans, getting drier and drier looking each day with large
>craters developing on the surface.
There is no shame in being part of the guard or reserve. You were part
of the military, be proud of that never down play it. The guard and
reserve have a long and proud history in peace and war. I had several
reserves in my unit on both of my combat tours.

On Tue, 31 May 2005 11:29:17 GMT,
(AlleyGator) wrote:

>The Joneses > wrote:
>
>I got to eat in the officer's mess at - holy cow, it's been so long -
>an airbase near Chicago, used to be the home of a ton of B-52's - it's
>defunct now.
That may have Malmstrom AFB.

My experience was that the Air Force ate better than us. I remember a special
event we had at the Officer's Club on Fort Bliss. They were serving steak and
chicken and the only wine available was rose'. The only wine. The NCO club had
better booze.
Edrena

Dwayne wrote:

> My uncle was a mess sergeant during two of his 8 years in the Army Air
> Corps. He told that he was in the mess hall at 4:00 AM with the lights out,
> opening eggs into a big pan. He had to do it in the dark because he didnt
> want to see what he was smelling as he opened them. Needless to say he
> never ate eggs after that.
>
> He advised me to join the U.S.A.F. rather than be drafted. He said that
> they and the Navy ate steak and ham, while the Army and Marines age C and K
> rations. I took his advice and spent 20 in the Air Force. I honestly cant
> remember getting a "bad meal". Now I look like it also.
>
> Dwayne
>
> "The Joneses" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> > meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> > turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> > there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> > abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> > And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> > And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> > tv today.
> > Edrena
> >
> >

AlleyGator wrote:

> The Joneses > wrote:
>
> I got to eat in the officer's mess at - holy cow, it's been so long -
> an airbase near Chicago, used to be the home of a ton of B-52's - it's
> defunct now. ANYWAY - man did they ever eat better than the peons.
> Not that it was gourmet, but it sure was good and filling - and all
> you can eat, naturally. Oh crap - anybody remember the name of the
> place? I don't know why they called it officer's mess, either,
> because it looked like the same place everyone else ate. My only
> experience was working with the Marines and I don't know much about
> the Air Force.
>
> --
> The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
> At least now I have an excuse.

Ol'Whiskerface is from Chicago. Was it Chanute? I think Elgin AFB is still
active. Or Great Lakes Naval Training Station north of Chicago?
Edrena

wrote:

> There is no shame in being part of the guard or reserve. You were part
> of the military, be proud of that never down play it. The guard and
> reserve have a long and proud history in peace and war. I had several
> reserves in my unit on both of my combat tours.

Don't worry. I am not ashamed of it. I just didn't want to take credit for
being a veteran. AAMOF, I almost joined the army when I finished university. I
went through all the tests, interviews and physical. I had my last interview
with the army recruiter on a Wednesday and an interview with a department of
the federal government on Thursday. The government called me Friday to tell me
I had the job and report to work on Monday. The army called me at work on
Monday morning and wanted me out in Chilliwack the next week to start
training. I told them I had found something else. Sometimes I look back and
regret not going with the army. It could have been a good life and I would be
retired by now. But what the heck, I got an early retirement anyway.

On 2005-05-31, The Joneses > wrote:

> Ol'Whiskerface is from Chicago. Was it Chanute?

Nah ...Chanute was almost 100 miles South of Chicago.

(OBfood: pizza-pop!)

nb ...57th alumni

The Joneses wrote:
> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> tv today.
> Edrena

Fried rabbit on Adak 1975-76. We went through a period of about 3
months where it seemed like 2 or three times a week we would be having
fried rabbit. while on Adak in 1975-76.

Best meal - 4th of July 1976 -Bicentennial. The Patrol Squadron flew in
Big Macs from McDonald's in Anchorage!

Sandi

Sandi wrote:
> The Joneses wrote:
>> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
>> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
>> turkey was *not* all the way done.
>> Edrena
>
> Best meal - 4th of July 1976 -Bicentennial. The Patrol Squadron flew
> in Big Macs from McDonald's in Anchorage!
>
> Sandi

LOL now that's the "American Way"

Jill

The Joneses > wrote:

>Ol'Whiskerface is from Chicago. Was it Chanute? I think Elgin AFB is still
>active. Or Great Lakes Naval Training Station north of Chicago?
>Edrena

That's it! Chanute. Great Lakes is still active and a lot of people
I'd just as soon forget about . . . . never mind.

--
The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
At least now I have an excuse.

"Sandi" > wrote in
oups.com:

>
>
> The Joneses wrote:
>> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
>> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
>> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
>> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
>> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
>> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
>> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
>> tv today.
>> Edrena
>
> Fried rabbit on Adak 1975-76. We went through a period of about 3
> months where it seemed like 2 or three times a week we would be having
> fried rabbit. while on Adak in 1975-76.
>
> Best meal - 4th of July 1976 -Bicentennial. The Patrol Squadron flew in
> Big Macs from McDonald's in Anchorage!
>
> Sandi
>

Best Luncheon at work, White Castles in '03. Oh, we lots of snacks too <g>.

Michael

On Tue, 31 May 2005 03:06:44 GMT, The Joneses >
wrote:

>Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
>meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
>turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
>there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
>abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
>And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
>And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
>tv today.
>Edrena
>
Fort Dix NJ..day I went into Army..arrived there at about midnite
after a long day, served a cold hot dog and a cold boiled potato and a
cup of horrible coffee. Fortunately, all the rst of army time I had
very good chow.

Sandi wrote:

>
>
> Fried rabbit on Adak 1975-76. We went through a period of about 3
> months where it seemed like 2 or three times a week we would be having
> fried rabbit. while on Adak in 1975-76.
>
> Best meal - 4th of July 1976 -Bicentennial. The Patrol Squadron flew in
> Big Macs from McDonald's in Anchorage!

OMG, the food must have been horrible there is Big Macs were the best meal.
My sympathies to you.

In article >, The Joneses
> wrote:

>They were serving steak and chicken and the only wine available was
>rose'. The only wine. The NCO club had better booze.


Your point is?
-Barb, with fond memories of Lancer's. (*^;^*)
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> 5/8/05.
"Are we going to measure, or are we going to cook?" -Food Critic Mimi Sheraton

1) deep fried duck - USMC - Camp Pendleton mess hall

2) it just beat out the chewy medium-rare
"beef/pork/whatever-creature-gave-his-life-for-the-culinary-creation" fried
liver served at the same mess hall.(deliberately m-r, apparently - growled
"that's the way its supposed to be")

3) and the corn salad, made with canned corn and leftover ground deep-fried
"weinerschnitzl" (only)

the deviled eggs weren't too bad, until when I was on my week of mess duty,
I saw the mess gunny wiping the end of the egg squeeze bag every so often
(to keep it clean) by putting it in his mouth and pulling it out across his
lips. To make it worse, although not his fault exactly, was that he had a
fair amount of burn scar tissue on his face.
I deferred on deviled eggs for my duration.

(now the marines have civilians doing their cooking, apparently)

"The Joneses" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> tv today.
> Edrena
>
>

the marine cooks put all the egg in the huge blender bowl - shells and all -
and beat the snot out of them -
and every now and then, a carton if they dropped it in (no kidding) - but
more than one carton and they made the guy take it out (cause any more
probably affected the "flavor"?)

"Dwayne" > wrote in message
...
> My uncle was a mess sergeant during two of his 8 years in the Army Air
> Corps. He told that he was in the mess hall at 4:00 AM with the lights
out,
> opening eggs into a big pan. He had to do it in the dark because he didnt
> want to see what he was smelling as he opened them. Needless to say he
> never ate eggs after that.
>
> He advised me to join the U.S.A.F. rather than be drafted. He said that
> they and the Navy ate steak and ham, while the Army and Marines age C and
K
> rations. I took his advice and spent 20 in the Air Force. I honestly
cant
> remember getting a "bad meal". Now I look like it also.
>
> Dwayne
>
>
> "The Joneses" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> > meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> > turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> > there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> > abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> > And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> > And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> > tv today.
> > Edrena
> >
> >
>
>

best meal on base - scallops at the Long Beach naval hospital when I was
able to get down to the mess-

-offbase - a lot of good ones- two guys in my unit were "assistant?" chefs
at the Waldorf and another restaurant in NYC before joining, and they took
me out with them to eat every payday in San Diego - Caesar done perfectly,
steaks and meats of all types and preparations - it was a culinary
schooling, for sure.

"The Joneses" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> tv today.
> Edrena
>
>

"--" > wrote:

>2) it just beat out the chewy medium-rare
>"beef/pork/whatever-creature-gave-his-life-for-the-culinary-creation" fried
>liver served at the same mess hall.(deliberately m-r, apparently - growled
>"that's the way its supposed to be")

I guess if it was at least half-cooked, that's the best you could hope
for. I actually ordered chicken livers one time at a real "eatery"
that I seriously knew better than to go to, and when I cut into one of
the chicken livers, my plate filled with blood. Trying to be
discreet, I quietly went to speak to one of the waitresses, and
instead of appreciating my discreteness she screamed out "So what -
you want a f****** refund or something?" Avoiding the overwhelming
desire to cover her with liver blood, I dropped some money on the
table and quietly left. Probably a serious mistake, but I figured I
had met my match.

--
The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
At least now I have an excuse.

Dave Smith wrote:
> Sandi wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Fried rabbit on Adak 1975-76. We went through a period of about 3
> > months where it seemed like 2 or three times a week we would be having
> > fried rabbit. while on Adak in 1975-76.
> >
> > Best meal - 4th of July 1976 -Bicentennial. The Patrol Squadron flew in
> > Big Macs from McDonald's in Anchorage!
>
> OMG, the food must have been horrible there is Big Macs were the best meal.
> My sympathies to you.

It's bad when even the bald eagles, notorius dumspter divers would
boycott the chow hall dumpsters. We had an "eagle" rating system for
food. If they were diving the dumspters from the early mealline trash,
it was ok (the meal was the same for early meals and normal meals). If
there was a moderate amount activity, it was so-so...and if they just
sat on the roof of the chow hall.....you took your chances on what was
being slopped on the plate - probably inedible if scavengers wouldn't
eat it!

Sandi

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> In article >, The Joneses
> > wrote:
>
> >They were serving steak and chicken and the only wine available was
> >rose'. The only wine. The NCO club had better booze.
>
> Your point is?
> -Barb, with fond memories of Lancer's. (*^;^*)

Lancer makes wine? I like the dark dry reds. I think it has vitamins in it.
Edrena, duckin' and runnin'

Yeah, you don't want to mess with the Mess Sergeant.
Edrena

-- wrote:

> the marine cooks put all the egg in the huge blender bowl - shells and all -
> and beat the snot out of them -
> and every now and then, a carton if they dropped it in (no kidding) - but
> more than one carton and they made the guy take it out (cause any more
> probably affected the "flavor"?)
>
> "Dwayne" > wrote in message
> ...
> > My uncle was a mess sergeant during two of his 8 years in the Army Air
> > Corps. He told that he was in the mess hall at 4:00 AM with the lights
> out,
> > opening eggs into a big pan. He had to do it in the dark because he didnt
> > want to see what he was smelling as he opened them. Needless to say he
> > never ate eggs after that.
> >
> > He advised me to join the U.S.A.F. rather than be drafted. He said that
> > they and the Navy ate steak and ham, while the Army and Marines age C and
> K
> > rations. I took his advice and spent 20 in the Air Force. I honestly
> cant
> > remember getting a "bad meal". Now I look like it also.
> >
> > Dwayne
> >
> >
> > "The Joneses" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> > > meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> > > turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> > > there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> > > abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> > > And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> > > And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> > > tv today.
> > > Edrena

Edrena wrote:

> Thanks to all the vets here - it's Memorial Day in the US. The worst
> meal I ever had was that one Thanksgiving at West Fort Hood. The
> turkey was *not* all the way done. I swear, I wanted to charge back
> there and show them how to do it right. Seems they also had an
> abundance of sausage and used it to flavor - green beans. And corn.
> And spinach. And any other veggie on the line for next week or two.
> And I thought that memory was buried deep until all those war shows on
> tv today.

Ugh. Reminds me of...well, I have several contributions in mind, but I do
*not* want to rehash them. Speaking of hash, that's some more bad Navy
memories.

Bob

Worst would be an egg sandwich from the Double Deuce snack-bar. The Double
Deuce was my unit at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, the 6922nd
Electronic Security Squadron. One of the Filipino cooks who worked there
used to get orders so absurdly wrong that we all thought he was either
crazy or an NPA sympathizer (NPA being the New Peoples Army, communist
terrorist). One morning I ordered a fried egg sandwich on toast with
cheese and mustard. I got the fried egg and toast but it was with
mayonnaise and mushrooms. Mushrooms? I *hate* mushrooms.

The best meal was during a who-shot-who at Camp Bullis in San Antonio. I'd
just got back to the cantonment area after a 12-hour shift dodging bullets
and bombs when I learned that a mobile kitchen had been set up. This after
three days of nothing but MREs and one of the worst thunderstorms I've ever
seen. The meal they were serving was steak. I'd been wearing my chem-gear
almost the entire day so, when I took it off, my uniform underneath was wet
with sweat. After the storms the air was cold and the ground muddy. The
walk to get my meal was miserable. The meat was of poor quality, tough and
over-cooked. All-in-all it was the best - steak - ever!

--

-Jeff B.
zoomie at fastmail dot fm

In article >, The Joneses
> wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
> > In article >, The Joneses
> > > wrote:
> >
> > >They were serving steak and chicken and the only wine available was
> > >rose'. The only wine. The NCO club had better booze.
> >
> > Your point is?
> > -Barb, with fond memories of Lancer's. (*^;^*)
>
> Lancer makes wine?

Hey, hey, hey! I haven't seen that bottle in years! De rigeur for
sticking a candle into 40 years ago or so.

I like the dark dry reds. I think it has vitamins in
> it.

Antioxidantal grapes, likely.

> Edrena, duckin' and runnin'

'Sokay; I don't get made; I get even. '-)
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> 5/8/05.
"Are we going to measure, or are we going to cook?" -Food Critic Mimi Sheraton

I also heard once that MRE stood for "Meals Refused by Ethiopians."

Melissa

I was a cook/ baker/ dining facility manager in the Marine Corps. 78-82
Semper Fi to all who serve , I sleep better at night knowing that you
are on post. Back to the topic at hand, I saw the best and the worst of
it. Sometimes I was responsible for it too. Pardon me in advance if you
detect any senior moments. One of my duty stations was at MCRD San
Diego. I was there for 2 1/2 years. There were a couple of messhalls on
the base for regular Marines, officers & enlisted. The recruits & their
drill instructors got fed by Dining facility 569. It was here that I
saw the best... and later on the worst.

Now...the chowhall for the recruits was called "The Big 9" or " the
Food Factory". This was no place to stand around. Slack time was at a
very minimum. The place hummed with activity 24 hours a day. It took a
minimum of 40 Marines a day to make a regular shift, plus 2 platoons of
recruits doing menial tasks as part of their training. The four big
mess decks could handle 1600 people at a sitting, all served up out of
one kitchen/ bakeshop. Imagine something about the size of a
supermarket. They didn't call it "The Big 9" for nothing.

In the winter, the place was not so busy. There were usually only 1500-
2000 recruits to feed. In the spring & summer, that number started
going up untill it peaked around the end of July. Around that time we
could serve upwards of 12,000 per meal. That was some serious work,
very hard and intense. You had to get all these people fed in perhaps 4
1/2 hours, then start up all over again as you were cleaning up from
the last meal. Recruits usually had about a half an hour to get their
food & eat, give or take depending on the drill instructors and
training schedule.

Graduation days were always the busiest, and lunchtime would be
extended and run right into the dinner meal if needed. There were new
recruits coming into the cycle, and new boot Marines, (often with their
families attending the ceremonies) having their last meal there before
shipping out. One fine August day in 1979, myself and about 45 other
Marines served up 14,528 people for lunch in about 5 hours. It stood
up as some kind of record for awhile, I don't know if it's been broken.
Our unit got a commendation letter from the base commander for that
one.

Probably the worst I saw there was in October of that same year. I was
off duty and woke up on Sunday morning to the sounds of sirens....lots
of them headed towards "The Big 9" and the recruit barracks. I found
out later that some 280 recruits, drill instructors & DF crew got an
acute case of food poisoning. It was later determined that the night
cooks on that shift left ham being served for breakfast sit outside the
refrigerators after slicing into portions. Strike #1. The day shift
came on duty at 4 AM and the chief cook let it sit. He was supposedly
told that the ham slices had been 'recently' taken out of the cold
storage. That was later determined to be around midnight. Strike #2.
Strike # 3 came very quickly when roughly half the portions were cooked
to only about 150 deg, moved into under temperature holding lockers,
then served for breakfast. The shit figuratively hit the fan around an
hour later. After everyone recovered, the chief cook & the night cooks
from that shift lost stripes, and the rest of us went through 3 months
of sanitary supervisory hell courtesy of the Naval medical corpsmen.

On 31 May 2005 17:45:30 -0700, wrote:

> I also heard once that MRE stood for "Meals Refused by Ethiopians."

"Meals, Ready to Eat - Three lies for the price of one."

--

-Jeff B.
zoomie at fastmail dot fm

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >, The Joneses
> > wrote:
>
>> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>>
>>> In article >, The Joneses
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> They were serving steak and chicken and the only wine available was
>>>> rose'. The only wine. The NCO club had better booze.
>>>
>>> Your point is?
>>> -Barb, with fond memories of Lancer's. (*^;^*)
>>
>> Lancer makes wine?
>
> Hey, hey, hey! I haven't seen that bottle in years! De rigeur for
> sticking a candle into 40 years ago or so.
>
Don't forget the round Matues Rose bottle for the candle drippings...
multi-coloured from many, many candles, of course!

Jill