gray06 Nov-Dec 2009_Gray01_Jan-Feb 2005.qxd.qxd - Korean War ...

Has the writer ever heard of the “Kansas Line” or “Operation
Killer?” What does he think brought the Chinese to the truce talks
table? We decided it wasn’t worth it to fight all the way to the Yalu
River once we regained South Korea. Instead, we opted to take a
heavy toll on the enemy with barrage after barrage of artillery until
they felt the pain of defeat.
“Korea - The Forgotten War.” Defeat, Hell!
Joseph A. Cappella, 3301 Spanish Trail, Apt. 101A
Delray Beach, FL 33483
C-Rats
The article on p. 70 of the Sept.-Oct 2009 issue regarding C-
Rations kicked up a memory I will share with my comrades.
I was regular Army (1949-52), and I had the honor of landing on
16 September 1950 with X Corps in 8220 AUMGT, who took
POWs from the 1st Marine Div. I am familiar with C-Rations and
P-38 openers.
I concur that the favorite entrée was Beans & Wieners. Next
were Lima Beans & Ham and peach sections. Most were tolerable
cold—except one, which was probably a holdover from WWII. It
was not in your inventory. That was Pork Patty w/gravy, which was
okay hot, but not cold.
During most of December 1950 I was a “hobo” riding the rails
and moving POWs south. At one meal time, the grab bag was pretty
slim: 1 Pork Patty w/gravy and crackers. I opened the can. The
gravy looked like lard. I took one mouthful. I could chew the stuff,
but I could not swallow it.
I “released” that mouthful and threw the can out the door of our
moving box car. I hope I did not hit anyone.
The rest of my meal consisted of crackers and water.
Leslie C. Green, 16795 290th Street
Conrad, IA 50621-8049, (641) 366-2157
C-Rations: Worth a can of beans?
Thanks for your humorous article about C-rats in the recent edition
of The Graybeards. There are several things I recall about the
subject.
First of all, we were only issued B-2s. I don’t remember seeing
any Meatballs & Beans, but I do remember Sausage Patties, which
were absolutely horrendous. The other four meat meals were very
good.
Also, our accessories included jam for the crackers and both
cocoa and coffee, as well as (I think) tea. And, because 1 didn’t
smoke or drink coffee, 1 was able to swap them for tea in the summer
and cocoa in the winter, and even for my favorites, the “Franks
& Beans” and “Spaghetti & Meatballs.”
As a tank platoon leader in Korea from 1 June ‘52 to 6 March
‘53, I consumed “C-rats” quite often, especially when the enemy
heavily shelled the “roads” up to our MLR positions in the mountains,
including a direct hit on a chow truck, killing a bunch of
KATUSAs and WIA 2 GIs.
On 3 Jan ‘53 I wrote the following from Kumhwa in a letter to
my wife:
“This a.m. a can of beans on the stove blew up. A hot bean burned
my eye, and the can cut me a ‘sukosh’ (little) in the belly!! We all
thought a mortar had come right through the roof! What a surprise!!
‘Wounded” by a can of beans!! Hal Ha! What next? The bunker was
just covered with beans!! What a sight. Ha.”
My tank crew had a brand new replacement who obviously was
never a boy scout! He left his un-vented can on our hot winter stove
and it exploded with a very loud “BANG”—like a hand-grenade—
and spewed hot dry solid beans through the air like old-fashioned
shrapnel.
When we picked ourselves up off the floor we all had a good
laugh!
Col Peter W. Cuthbert, U.S. Army (Ret)
P.O. Box 695, East Moriches, NY 11940
colpwc@optonline.net
Did we all eat the same C-rats?
My recollection of the items contained in our C-Rations in 1950-
1951 is quite a bit different from those listed on page 71 of the
September - October, 2009 issue of The Graybeards.
I remember the Ham & Lima Beans; Beans & Franks; Chicken
& Vegetables; Corned Beef Hash; Spaghetti & Meatballs, and some
kind of a beef patty in a juice/gravy. There might have been a couple
others for the main items, but nothing like Beef Steak; Ham &
Eggs; Ham Slices; Turkey Loaf, & many of the other “staple”
things listed on p.71.
Also, there were Fruit Cocktail and Peaches & Pears. I don’t
recall Applesauce.
Another small can contained a few hard tack discs; a cocoa disk,
and one of a candy like a huge, stale, gumdrop.
The accessory pack was about the same as what is listed in the
article, except it was a regular pack of cigarettes [20], not a fourpack,
and I don’t recall any chewing gum. I don’t recall any issue
of Sterno, either.
If you wanted to heat them, first of all you only did it in daylight
hours. If you were able to make a little fire, you could then do a couple
things: punch a couple holes in the lid of the can and set it in the
fire, or heat water in your helmet and put the can it for a while.
Also, if there were some left over mortar or artillery powder
packets around, you might light off one or two of those under the
punctured can for a fast heat.
For the first few months, the rations we received had all been
packed during World War II.
Vince McCormick
Binghamton, NY
Herbert is worth a story
Re the inquiry in the Sept/Oct 2009 issue of The Graybeards
(pp. 63-64) about LTC Herbert: I “Googled” his name and in about
three seconds had everything one needs to know about him.
Wikipedia has his life story in a nutshell, although it’s not complete.
Herbert apparently was the most decorated soldier of the Korean
War. He achieved both fame and notoriety during his career, which
ended on a down note.
He’s written two books, Soldier and Making of a Soldier, about
his military experiences. (I read one of them years ago). His
exploits included being involved in a landmark libel lawsuit against
CBS, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
65
The Graybeards
November – December 2009