Re: Lingo on the Hide
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SIERRAWHISKEY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My favorite thing in the MRE was the "SAWDUST BAR", but you had to eat the green eggs an ham to get it most of the time.There was a many a days the new Boots would get the old fist-fart in the face from that MRE. </div></div>
Hated those things...the only thing worse than the bar was the "green eggs and ham" they came with. Had a buddy who loved them. We traded alot!
Everyting had a cat food smell to it. Had lots of deployments to the Middle East where 1 or 2 MREs a day were all that was available. Don't miss that part of those days...but I do miss them in general. Oh to be young!
Oddly enough, deploying with cooks was even worse. C-Rations make MREs look good! Whenever possible we befriended locals and ate what the locals ate. As scary as it was...several months of MREs makes it worth the risk. Plus the benifits of sharing meals with the local military has a bonding effect...but yes there were health risks. None of us ever got sick, aside from the runs...which if you read below lead to other problems.
I still get cravings every once in a while for camel burgers, shish taouk, and falafel. The soccar matches on pitted sand fields were pretty fun as well. The tiny, thin coke cans were kinda cool...when they were wealthy enough to have them. A lot of the stuff made me glad I did not speak the language. I really did not want to know.
The thing I don't miss about the Middle East were the restrooms, or lack there of. Most of the time we were quartered with the locals for at least part of the deployment...and that meant using their facilities. No toilet paper, no toilets...just a hole in the floor with 10 feet of area around it where people missed. Not fun! You can hold it for a few days...after that...use your left hand and watch your step! About 1/2 the time there was running water, other wise you had to hope there was a stash of drinking water near by, or...
It was a lot more fun when the Civil Engineers came along. Wood floored and air codintioned tents with electrical outlets for radios and portable TVs, actual cots to sleep in and not just a sand, showers, toilets, and usually a laundry. When they didn't...things got ugly quick.
Sorry...I got side tracked...been a while since I thought about those days. Nothing like food to spark the old memories.
