Mmmm Thats Good Eating (If It Ain't The Only Thing You Get)

I ate an MRE (Meals Ready To Eat) today. Didn't have to, just kind of considered it a cross culture culinary experience. It was definitely edible and even quite tasty. Back when MREs first came out I used them when backpacking. They were almost edible, fairly compact, and had a lot of calories. There has been considerable improvement in the last 18 years. I had the Chicken Capasomethingorother with wheat bread, peanut butter, pretzel sticks and spice cake. It was really good for a processed chicken patty (chicken, chunked and formed, breaded) in tomato sauce. Eating one is O.K. and even fun (as for as eating is fun) but I certainly could get tired of them if I had nothing to look forward to other than another MRE.

Military Rations have come a long way since the War of Northern Aggression. Back then a soldier was lucky to get any meat based meals at all. If meat was available it was generally of poor quality, and poorly cooked (I wonder what the rate of triconosis (sp?) from undercooked pork was during the war?) An MRE is one individual serving for one individual soldier. You don't have to fight with your messmates to get your fair share, except if your the poor bastard who gets the tuna and noodle MRE may the Lord have mercy on your gastrointestinal track. Sitting around the cook fire with the pards in my mess, they could starve to death or loose a finger (keep hand, feet and any loose articles a way from me when I am hungry). Marching with the Ragged First under General King at Sharpesburg back in '62, I thought a small piece of salt beef, hardtack, a carot that the mule turned his nose up at, and a somewhat scrawny onion was feast fit for a king. I guess it all about expectations.

TO THE TYRANT NEVER YIELD