I recall that in The Thin Red Line, James Jones talks about troops in battle areas being fed, and that having a field kitchen set up, making nothing more than fried Spam sandwiches, made all the difference in troop morale. The same two slices of bread, with the same slab or two of Spam, eaten cold, was nothing compared to the luxury of this simple hot meal.
I ran across this youtube video by accident and the narrator says the same thing- a hot meal is a huge morale booster for men who have been in the field for an extended time.

I found this this brief video to be interesting and informative. You may as well.

Wow,that was interesting. My uncles told me they never complained about SOS in combat. It meant they got hot chow and were still alive.

I ate Spam sandwiches as a kid when Dad was out of work. I have eaten MREs and they are better. Never tried C rations. I could see how that would be a morale booster though.

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a hot meal is a huge morale booster for men who have been in the field for an extended time.

I can attest to the truth in this statement.

Have eaten many a meal prepared by the more modern day version. Food always good and plentiful. An interesting story told to me by an acquaintance who happened to be a WWII Vet but in the German Army who fought against the Americans. He said they always knew when the Americans were going to attack because they were always served hot chow the morning of the attack.

Thanks! That was very enjoyable and informative.

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Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:

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a hot meal is a huge morale booster for men who have been in the field for an extended time.

I can attest to the truth in this statement.

As can I. Even hot coffee can be heaven sent to someone who doesn’t drink coffee. Even now when I backpack, food planning to make the experience enjoyable makes all the difference. Thanks for the video.

Excellent vid. Very informative. As a WW2 history fan, I am a bit sheepish that I never thought of the WW2 field kitchen before.

I have now been inspired! I wonder how much of this equipment I can find to try to replicate even a small kitchen? I was always a big Kent Rollins fan because he restored a actual old chuck wagon and fed ranchers out of the old chuck wagon using original recipes and equipment. He's gone complete commercial now and I don't think he does much of the chuck wagon stuff anymore.

I love outdoor cooking equipment and I would love to be able to replicate and use a WWII kitchen. Off to Duck Duck Go I go!! If anybody knows of any sites where I might source some of this stuff point me to it! Para thanks for the great post!

A hot spam sandwich woulda been way better than a wet cheese and mustard sandwich one cook used to send over to us on boardings.....pretty much hated that guy....

I can't remember the last time I had a cold MRE main meal...I always heat them up, even in all during Ranger School.

Modern "MKT" field kitchens aren't much different. They are trailer mounted now, fold down the sides and get to cookin'! The "mermites" are a different shape, but exact same concept.

One thing I like about Army culture is the officers eat last. With field chow, it is not uncommon for things to run out. If I just have some bread and veggies so be it, at least the enlisted guys got everything to eat.

We always had one of the stove units with two tanks at elk camp. Bacon and a little etc. was always good.

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A movie and a hot meal, thanks for sharing Cookie!!!

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I always heat them up, even in all during Ranger School.

When did Ranger School go soft? I remember being shorted C-Rations on purpose, but that was 1967!

A theme, the Spam on bread, is also in his novel From Here To Eternity.

Sergeant Maylon Stark orders all men be given a hot meal upon request at any hour. This meal would be fried Spam and toasted cheese on bread with hot coffee.



Camping beside Wilson Lake (Reservoir) in Kansas over Czech Fest weekend, my vittles were only black coffee and grilled Spam ... An easy meal to pack. Some bread would have been nice, though.

That was great. Not trained as a service cook I got to fill in as directed. Hot food is the bee's knee's when you are doing Uncles work no matter the branch. As for Spam at my old age 58 I still make a fried Spam and eggs sandwich for breakfast when I can. Old ways die hard. VI

Stupid monitor...in and out of being fuzzy. Call me an old softie, but there's something that gets to me when I watch that video and think about our men and women in uniform who go through so much in battle and every day rigor and all it takes is a simple hot meal to pick up their spirits...even if it IS creamed tuna on toast. It REALLY gets to me when thinking about those young boys...boys...of WWII, Korea, and Nam. There's so much we take for granted living behind the shelter and cloak of protection our military provides.

When my bro was deployed in a rugged mountainous area in some far off -shitistan country, he said the food in base camp was actually good and kept them going after flying long, multi-hour sorties. Makes you think about conditions during the Revolutionary War and The Civil War, for example...

Very interesting! Only food/drink stories I heard from the old man about WWII were of being separated from his company and finding a french wine cellar to ahh ruminate in for a few days with his group. He did still enjoy a spam sandwich from time to time though, and sometimes he looked both wistful and sad at the same time while consuming it. Took me awhile to figure out why.

The field kitchen in that video wasn't too different from what we had in the 1980's. The stoves were different, but those imersion heaters look almost identical. We didn't have any of those long wands for lighting them. We stood back and tossed a lit match into them and hoped the lit. sometimes they exploded and sent the exhaust pipe up like an Estes rocket. Chow in the field, good times.....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SgtGold,

Definitely an improvement over the “gulashkanone” from the Great War/WW1.