Tabasco Sauce on C-Rations

Lieutenant Gray Story #4

Being in the field with Lieutenant Gray was as much fun as being around him at the flight line. He amazed us on many occasions. Some of the things he did kept us laughing for weeks. He didn’t even know that Tabasco sauce was a must on C-rations.

One night in the dark as we sat around heating our C-rations in the camp Lieutenant Gray came up and put his C-rations in the fire too. We all had campstools and used to have some good times dining together and telling stories.

Heating and eating C-rations was a real art. Experienced guys had different ways of doing the job but none were as interesting as Ken’s. Ken was the safety officer and he used to put one C-ration can directly in the fire and roll it around. The wild part of that was that he didn’t punch a hole in it to let the pressure off. All of us were scared to death that the can would explode. Ken would just keep rolling it around as it started to bulge. I never knew of Ken having one blow up but he sure kept the rest of us back away from the fire. And maybe keeping us safely away from the fire was what he was trying do as the safety officer.

On the first night that Lt. Gray joined us around the campfire eating C-rations he was watching us carefully and learning the fine art of dining in the field. All C-rations left something to be desired so it was standard practice in the Army to put Tabasco sauce on them. In later years the MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) came with a tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce but in those years we all carried our own bottles. Lt. Gray watched as we all applied Tabasco sauce to our heated rations.

After watching us eat for a minute and deciding that his C-rations weren’t that tasty he asked what it was that we had put on our C-rations. One of the guys responded with, “It’s Tabasco sauce”. After a couple of more bites he asked if it helped them. Most all of the group grunted, “It helps”, or, “I like it”.

Of course in a couple of minutes he asked if he could borrow some. One in our group passed him a bottle. We were all amazed as we watched him shake the bottle vigorously time after time trying to get the Tabasco sauce to come out. It was coming out as fast as Tabasco sauce should come out. The light around the campfire was poor but we could all see that the Tabasco sauce was building up on the C-rations. A few more shakes of the bottle and it looked like it was applied at the rate catsup might be applied. The entire top of the can of food was soaked with Tabasco sauce. No one said anything. We just kept eating and looking at each other. Every once in a while someone would shrug when someone looked at him.

After a few minutes Lt. Gray took his first spoonful of Tabasco sauce. I would have guessed that it was close to a fifty-fifty mix of Tabasco sauce and C-rations because he just scooped right off the top. Instantly Lt. Gray started gagging and coughing. Everyone else kept calm and kept eating. Tears were flowing down Lt. Gray’s face as he poured water from his canteen down his throat. He finished the entire canteen full in one long pour.

When Lt. Gray finally stopped coughing he hoarsely said, “That stuff is hot". I replied, “That’s why the rest of us only put a little bit on and then we mix it in". He responded with, “That’s a good idea". He was gaining knowledge and understanding. This had been a real learning moment for the lieutenant!

On most things it’s best to do some research or ask questions before we tackle something new. And if we are going to learn only from observation then we better observe closely. In just about every situation there are folks that would help us if we would only ask. Most folks are willing to help us if we approach them right and ask questions nicely. But often these same people will let us make all the mistakes we want to make without trying to tell us what to do or not to do. If we act like we don’t want any help then it is unlikely we will get any.