Army chow--let me say this about that. I was a starving student at the university when I got drafted, and I gained twenty pounds in basic training. I am not ashamed to admit that I love S.O.S. The mess hall at Kishine Barracks was the best in the Army. The mess officer told me they spent over $400 K a year which was a lot of money in those days. We had steak, Australian rock lobsters and pizza every week, and they served four meals a day to accommodate the hospital shifts. Nobody ever got sick in our mess hall--not on the food anyway. I remember guys used to fight to get a steak with "approved by P. Saunders" stamped on it.
Dave, did you get poisoned in Vietnam or Japan? Vietnam was a whole different ballgame. The food in the mess halls wasn't prepared nearly as good as in Japan, and we never got steak and lobster. There was a team of U.S. advisors located on a South Vietnamese post near my post, consisting of a major, a warrant officer and a master sergeant, and they invited me to dinner a couple of times and we always had steak and lobster. I mentioned that we never got steak and lobster in our mess hall, and the sergeant said that our mess sergeant was probably selling it on the black market. The only time we had steak was when the Sergeant Major of the Army was visiting.
In Japan, the food in the NCO Club, Zebra Club, etc. was excellent, and came from the same sources as food for the mess halls. I don't know of anyone who got sick on food. We were told not to eat food from the street vendors, but I probably ate a ton of yakitori, while walking, or stumbling around Isezaki-Cho, and never got sick--again--not on food anyway.
Steffi, you mentioned that the trepidation of the Japanese people over the occupation was dispelled by the behavior of the American troops--that must have been before Peter and I arrived.
I hate to criticize the Marine Corps, as the fighting spirit and abilities of marines outclasses the other branches of service, I have personally seen it in action at the Red Shoes Bar in Chinatown, Yokohama, when I was in my reserved seat under a table near the door. But, let me tell you, your living accommodations are not on a par with the Army, and an Air Force barracks is like a Hilton Hotel compared to a marine barracks. When I was a contracting officer in Okinawa I had construction contracts at Kadena Air Base, Camp Butler (Marines) and Torii Station (Army). Kadena had great mess halls and Torii Station was even better, but I never really wanted to eat at the Camp Butler mess hall.
A Kadena barracks had one man to a room, Torii Station had two men to a room, and Camp Butler had forty men to a room. So, I am guessing that marine mess halls get whatever food is left over after the Air Force, Army and Navy get their pick. So, it is no wonder you got poisoned.
What is the reasoning behind the way marines have to live? Is it to keep them on edge, and in fighting trim? Whenever there is a national emergency they always send the marines first.
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