Stanley, I have a living Uncle from Logan who also was in Korea in 1952. Because he is living I should not post his name here but he also is in the Browning line. Write to me, you might know him. [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: "STANLEY BROWNING" <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]>" <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 12:22 AM Subject: [WVLOGAN] (no subject) With so many interesting thanksgiving stories flying about I had resolved to just sit back and enjoy them because I have so many fond memories of Thanksgivings past that I couldn't choose the best story from among them. However, when someone mentioned Army Thanksgiving chow, and I thought of the lonely soldiers away from home stationed in Iraq this Thanksgiving, I no longer could contain myself. I have much to say on the general subject, of Army chow, but I digress. I will relate only one experience. It was Thanksgiving 1952 high on a ridge overlooking the sea in Korea. Climactic conditions and the topography were somewhat similiar to what one might encounter on the ridges in winter here in our Rocky Mountains; however, I was not there because of the exellent skiing. There were no roads to our positions. The snow was deep, it was terribly cold and all of our food, water and supplies were carried up to the lines by caravans of South Korean nationals who were enlisted just for that purpose. (We called them "chogi-bears.") That was how provisions for our Thanksgiving dinner were delivered. I had received letters from home that restated what the papers were saying that each soldier was to receive mega- pounds of turkey with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving dinner. Our cooks set up a makeshift kitchen in a trench behind the lines where they cooked and tried to keep the food warm. We left our positions in shifts and toted our metal mess kits and canteen cups to the "chow hall" expecting to eat ourselves silly. One hasn't really lived until he has eaten and drank from army metal mess equipment at temperatures below zero while wearing heavy mittens and standing and moving around to stay warm. As an aside, I want to say that my hat goes off to the well-meaning designer of mess gear who chose to provide a heavy rim around the lip of the canteen cup. It was a terrific heat sink. Hot coffee would raise the temperature of the rim to a point that one could not bear to place it to his lips. By the time the temperature at the rim could be tolerated, the coffee was near ice cold. On this Thanksgiving, I was served hydrated powdered milk, not coffee; it froze in the cup. Our meal included the usual Thanksgiving fare, i. e., turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, etc. but the portions were miniscule. I took a look at the lonesome little mound on my "plate" and remarked quite loudly that I planned to take a picture of it and mail it to my senator along with a copy of the news story hyping the soldiers' Thanksgiving. Boy did that get attention! My company commander, who overheard my remarks, took me seriously and rushed over and told the cooks to fill my plate and if need be to give me seconds. If something sounds fishy about this story, it apparently was just that. As the rumors had it, the cooks, or someone in a position to do so, had black-marketed some of the provisions intended for troops on the front lines. I don't know if that was true; I never tried to follow up on it as I had other things on my mind. I had plenty to be thankful for in spite of having to threaten everyone but the Almighty to get my Thanksgiving meal. After that, any time I saw my company commander, he asked if I was getting enough to eat. My company commander was not the only one who was interested. That night as the Korean version of Axis Sallie was signing off after providing an evening of music and propaganda from loudspeakers on the next ridge over, she asked if the soldiers of the Forty-Fithth Division had enjoyed their Thanksgiving so far removed from their loved ones. By the way, I can verify that there was plenty of turkey consumed here in Utah this Thanksgiving. STAN ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Stanley I can certainly relate to your story of Thanksgiving in Korea 1952. I debarked at Inchon about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving 1952 and was quickly transported to the 1st Marine Regt. Coldest place I have ever been in my life and we must have had the same cook because my Thanksgiving closely resembled yours. And that Canteen cup, wow! If you let it get cold then touch it to your mouth, the skin froze to the cup and thats the last drink you took that day. By the time we got sat down in the trenches with our meal it was Ice cold, funny, its a little comical thinking back to that time now but it wasn't very funny then. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:09 AM Subject: Re: [WVLOGAN] (no subject)Re Stanley > Stanley, > I have a living Uncle from Logan who also was in Korea in 1952. > Because he is living I should not post his name here but he also is in the > Browning line. > Write to me, you might know him. > [email protected] > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "STANLEY BROWNING" <[email protected]> > To: "[email protected]>" <[email protected]> > Cc: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 12:22 AM > Subject: [WVLOGAN] (no subject) > > > > With so many interesting thanksgiving stories flying about I had > resolved to just sit back and enjoy them because I have so many fond > memories of Thanksgivings past that I > couldn't choose the best story from among them. However, when > someone mentioned Army Thanksgiving chow, and I thought of the lonely > soldiers away from home stationed in Iraq this Thanksgiving, I no > longer could contain myself. I have much to say on the general > subject, of Army chow, but I digress. I will relate only one > experience. > > It was Thanksgiving 1952 high on a ridge overlooking the sea in Korea. > Climactic conditions and the topography were somewhat similiar to what > one might encounter on the ridges in winter here in our Rocky > Mountains; however, > I was not there because of the exellent skiing. There were no roads to > our positions. The snow was deep, it was terribly cold and all of our > food, water and supplies were carried up to the lines by caravans of > South Korean nationals who were enlisted just for that purpose. (We > called them "chogi-bears.") That was how provisions for our > Thanksgiving dinner were delivered. > > I had received letters from home that restated what the papers were > saying that each soldier was to receive mega- pounds of turkey with all > the trimmings for Thanksgiving dinner. Our cooks set up a makeshift > kitchen in a trench behind the lines where they cooked and tried to keep > the food warm. We left our positions in shifts and toted our metal mess > kits and canteen cups to the "chow hall" expecting to eat ourselves > silly. > > One hasn't really lived until he has eaten and drank from army metal > mess equipment at temperatures below zero while wearing heavy mittens > and standing and moving around to stay warm. As an aside, I want to say > that my hat goes off to the well-meaning designer of mess gear who chose > to provide a heavy rim around the lip of the canteen cup. It was a > terrific heat sink. Hot coffee would raise the temperature of the rim > to a point that one could not bear to place it to his lips. By the time > the temperature at the rim could be tolerated, the coffee was near > ice cold. On this > Thanksgiving, I was served hydrated powdered milk, not coffee; it > froze in the cup. > > Our meal included the usual Thanksgiving fare, i. e., turkey, cranberry > sauce, pumpkin pie, etc. but the portions were miniscule. I took a look > at the lonesome little mound on my "plate" and remarked quite loudly > that I planned to take a picture of it and mail it to my senator along > with a copy of the news story hyping the soldiers' Thanksgiving. > > Boy did that get attention! My company commander, who overheard my > remarks, > took me seriously and rushed over and told the cooks to fill my plate > and if need be to give me seconds. If something sounds fishy about this > story, it apparently was just that. As the rumors had it, the cooks, or > someone in a position to do so, had black-marketed some of the > provisions intended for troops on the front lines. I don't know if that > was true; I never tried to follow up on it as I had other things on my > mind. I had plenty to be thankful for in spite of having to threaten > everyone but the Almighty to get my Thanksgiving meal. After that, any > time I saw my company commander, he asked if I was getting enough to > eat. > > My company commander was not the only one who was interested. That > night as the Korean version of Axis Sallie was signing off after > providing an evening of music and propaganda from loudspeakers on the > next ridge over, she asked if the soldiers of the Forty-Fithth Division > had enjoyed their Thanksgiving so far removed from their loved ones. > > By the way, I can verify that there was plenty of turkey > consumed here in Utah this Thanksgiving. > > STAN > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message