Is there this type of american ration?

[C-rats]

You're very welcome mreheater!

Another thing I'll discuss concerns "B-3" Units..... While I was in service I was fortunate (I guess?) to have seen (or eaten) through a few MCI changes / improvements. I'm not sure they were all "improvements" however because as always, G.I.s bitch at just about everything. One sad loss was the first type of B-3 Unit I was issued during my Army stint.

The original B-3 Unit (as I was issued) was a large can which contained 3 large, thick vanilla cream-filled cookies, 1 thick chocolate (or "chocolate fudge") wafer (labeled & wrapped seperately in white waxed-paper), and 1 of the very small, thin cans of jam.

The B-3 Unit was always packed in that order: cookies / candy / jam, from top to bottom. As the heavier jam can was on the bottom, I suppose the candy wafer acted as a cushion between it and the cookies. Surrounding the 3 cookies (top, bottom, and sides) was a thin piece of white "corrugated" paper to help cushion them from the top & side of the can, plus a small round piece between them and the candy wafer as well. Inside these earlier B-3 Units the jam can was not olive drab (green) in color --- it was a gold color. And I only remember 4 types of jam....Pineapple, Seedless Blackberry, Grape, and Apricot. The candy wafers seemed to be made of that special "heat resistant" high temperature-melt chocolate (sometimes called Tropical Chocolate). They were not very good to eat alone, but were good when cut up or "shaved" in to very small pieces and then put in to your hot coffee or hot chocolate.

The best thing about this ration was the cookies --- they were absolutely heaven! I'm sure you've heard people talk about Pound Cake and Peaches being the "best" units in MCIs.....well, the cookies were right in there too! These original B-3 Units were highly sought after and traded for because of the cookies. Truely tasty, and wonderful with a canteen cup of coffee or hot chocolate!

At some point some chair bound idiot decided to change the B-3 Unit (the bastard!). The unit went from the large sized can down to the normal sized small can. The contents changed to 3 round crackers and 2 small, very thin, round chocolate "disks". Each disk was wrapped in foil and made by Hersheys. Although they were very good (far better than the old style thick wafers), they melted very easy in hot weather (or inside your blouse pocket --- unfortunately ) and they really were not worth giving up the cookies for. The same white corrugated paper was used inside this unit to help protect the contents from rough handling. During this change is when I remember the jam cans loosing their gold color and becoming olive drab --- perhaps because they were no longer packed inside the larger B-3 Unit and were now placed seperately inside the individual C Ration box along with the other components.


Thanks for listening to the ramblings of an old 11 Bravo "Ground Pounder". It's amazing what one can remember from 25 to 30 years ago --- especially since I can't seem to remember what I had for dinner last week! Taco Bell maybe.......burp!

[mreheater72]

You're very welcome mreheater!

Thanks C-rats for your interesting informations.

I was 8 years old (this was 1980) when I ate my first MCI. It was Crackers with Peanut Butter and it was also the fist time I ate Peanut Butter (you can’t buy Peanut Butter in German stores in the eighties). I can really remember it was a cold day in Bavaria and we followed as children with our bikes the tanks during a “Reforger” Exercise. In a small wood we “found” an Ambulance APC from the First Armoured Division “Old Ironsides” stationed in Schwabach (Germany). A GI from the APC opened the Crackers and the Peanut Butter can with his P38 and gave it to us! The taste was unbelievable! This was the moment I get addicted to US rations .

The following two or three years I ate more MCIs, but I never had the chance to taste all entrees . And then the first MREs appear. At that time we called them “Big Accessory Packets” because of their similar dark brown colour. The GI called them MREs, but I understand something as “emery” or “amery” and searched in the dictionary for the German translation, but I can’t find it logically. A few years later I “detected” the real meaning! From those first MREs I ate “tons”! I really liked them, especially the Nut Cakes, the freeze dried fruits, the chocolate at of course the fantastic “Beans with Tomato Sauce” .

I think I have two of the B3-Unit you describe in my collection . I have to look for them next weekend. But I have never opened them (because of your description I can imagine the taste of the cookies at least a little bit), because I’m afraid of destroying those rare collectibles. I will post some photos next week.

So long mreheater72

[donaldjcheek]

Checked with my old platoon sergeant and confirmed the B3 white bread unit was packed in late '50s - mid '60s C-rats.

He also reiterated that the white bread was usually damp, just barely tan, and would expand in the heat - at least in the late '50s & early '60s versions. He did say , however, that in the mid to late 1960s, the white bread unit got better, more like a dinner roll than raw dough (but he still didn't like it).

He also confirmed C-rats description of the early B3 units as being larger, with thick sandwich cookies inside.

I personally am only acquainted with MCI (C-rations) from the early 70s - mid '80s.

[MCIera]

I'm only familiar with the c-rats from the early 70's. I don't remember ever seeing the canned bread. Did you?

I personally am only acquainted with MCI (C-rations) from the early 70s - mid '80s.

[donaldjcheek]

No, never seen it except in pictures. Several of my older NCOs had stories to tell about it, though.

My favorite C-rat was the turkey loaf, followed by spaghetti w/beef chunks. Since I don't smoke, I also liked the cigarettes - after a few days in the field, I could trade them for whatever I wanted.

[DangerousDave]

My Dad served in Army Signal Corps(pogue)1961-1963 He said he came across C-ration white bread couple times in basic, but he never went to the field after that, so he did'nt have a lot of chances to get C-rats. He did see some more(white bread) while stationed in Formosa(Taiwan)MAAG. Of course thats not there anymore either.

[C-rats]

Where did it go? Did space aliens take it?

[MCIera]

I think he meant that MAAG wasn't in Formosa/Taiwan/ROC anymore. Last I heard, Taiwan businesses were a major financial player in the current industrialization in the Peoples Republic of China, particularly in the southern province of Guangdong (Canton), the birthplace of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen.

Where did it go? Did space aliens take it?

[C-rats]

Hmmmmm...... Dr. Sun Yat-Sen..... (WTF?!)

MCIera, have you been sipping that Spiced CoolAid again?


Nyuck! Nyuck! Nyuck!!

[MCIera]

Hardly. I guess you could say that Sun Yat-Sen was the George Washington" of the Republic of China.

Additionally, it appears that much of the larger recent Asian business ventures (e.g. shopping centers, supermarket chains, etc.) have their roots from Taiwanese venture capitalists. A far cry from the early penniless Chinese immigrants (primarily from Canton) of the 19th century, that paved the way for Chinese migration to the U.S.

Hmmmmm...... Dr. Sun Yat-Sen..... (WTF?!)

MCIera, have you been sipping that Spiced CoolAid again?


Nyuck! Nyuck! Nyuck!!