PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
The following Reflection represents LTC David Gauntlett’s legacy of their military service from 1966 to 1994. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life.
Where did you enjoy the best chow during your military service and what was the best meal you remember? Where did you experience your worst chow?:
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good. I Should Have Been a Seebee.
In 1968, I was an 18-year old Air Force buck sergeant, assigned to the 5th Tactical Control Group, Clark Airbase, Philippines. 5th TAC had detachments all over Southeast Asia and I was given the distinction of receiving a 45-day TDY to Hue- Phu Bai, where we had a radio relay site.
Our antennas were near the perimeter and we bunked with a Marine platoon who were responsible for a portion of the perimeter defenses. The Marines were most definitely not pleased that they had Air Force with them. To prove that they were absolutely correct, one night we came under the first airburst artillery attack (from NVA) I ever experienced. I was outside enjoying the show overhead clueless when a Marine came out and threw me into a bunker, noting that I was a Stupid Air Force sh*t.
The Marine platoon used the services of a nearby Seebee mess hall for their meals, so we four Air Force guys were also assigned that mess tent. The day after I arrived, I got in line and the cook asked me How do you want your eggs? My mouth dropped in disbelief and I said Over easy please. And that s what I was served. It was awesome.
That night we were back for dinner. I was asked How would you like your steak? Now THAT was the mess hall of my dreams. I prefer medium well. I ve had worse steaks at Texas Roadhouse.
The Bad. Angry Lizards.
For most of 1969 I was a radio operator for the small Air Force Forward Air Controller detachment at Advisory Team 67, Song Be, Vietnam.
It wasn t unusual for Charlie to pay a visit, but it was the quiet mornings when I would get an indestructible brown bakelite cup of coffee from the little mess hall, climb up on the hood of my radio jeep, and enjoy my quiet time. There was an old shot-up tree right in the wire, still struggling to survive. Maybe the tree is still there, trying to shake off its own horror of war.
I bunked with our cook for a while. Sometimes he would make a witchs brew for just us, which consisted of filling a thermos with Vienna sausage and juice, adding a bunch of little red peppers we got from the Montagnards, sealing tightly and placing in the sun for a couple days. I needed a medic standing by when we opened the thermos with a whoosh . I think it must have smelled bad to the F You lizards crawling on the window, considering their raunchy scolding.
The morning after, my quiet time was usually spent in the latrine.
The Ugly. A Meltdown in the Chow Line.
In 1985, as a newly minted Captain, I went to a major exercise in Germany (ReForGer). We had been on the offensive for 3 days and hot food never caught up. Finally we were promised steaks on a short stand down. When I got to the mermite can, I got a mess kit tray of peas. Cold. In the rain. Nothing more. I threw it in the woods and had a hissy fit, Bring me the f ing steak I was promised! I found some C-rats and ate it, I was so starved. Thats when the cook brought me a huge steak, hot peas, and potatoes. He stayed and watched me force the steak down on top of the C s. With a smirk.
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You and I need to get together for chow someday, Dave. I just don’t want any of the raunchy stuff that made the foul-mouthed lizard so unhappy.