9 Rations the Army Issued in Vietnam That Grunts Refused to Eat

The sergeant opened the case upside down so nobody could read the labels. Twelve men drew blind, and somebody always got the ham and lima beans. These are the cans that went straight from the box into the brush, why the water tablets were the most dangerous thing a grunt ever dumped, and how a two-ounce bottle of hot sauce from Louisiana became standard issue. Sources: - U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, Meal, Combat, Individual (1958), ration component lists - McIlhenny Company, The Charlie Ration Cookbook (1966) - Gordon L. Rottman, US Army Infantryman in Vietnam 1965-73 (Osprey, 2005) - Accounts from Army and Marine veterans of the Vietnam War