French Toast in Texas
In the Army there were terms that were used that no one really knew the exact meaning. It was just understood. People freely used them and no one seemed to know where they came from or what the exact meaning was but everyone had an understanding what they should or should not do. One of the terms often used when getting ready for going to the field on a tactical campout was “pogey bait”. We were always told that we were not to take any pogey bait to the field. Exactly what was it that we weren’t supposed to have in the field? Well we all knew that they meant that we were not supposed to bring civilian food to the field. So we understood that pogey bait was civilian food. No snacks on this trip. We were supposed to be eating only Army chow. That does not build enthusiasm.
On some of previous trips things had not gone as perfect as they could have. On one trip the executive officer failed to have the water buffalo (a trailer loaded with water) filled and brought to the field. In hot Texas weather being without water was a big deal. And on another trip the executive officer failed to order a meal for dinner so we went from lunch on one day to breakfast the next day without eating. From that I learned that taking care of yourself is what a person does if he doesn’t want to go thirsty or hungry. If you leave all control in the hands others there will be times they let you down. The only down side is that if you let yourself down you don’t have anyone else to blame.
So after being let down a couple of times it became pretty common to take some pogey bait as a backup plan. After it was discovered that we were taking pogey bait we were told one time that the commander did not want to see anything that wasn’t OD green. So we took spray paint and painted all of the cans of Spaghetti Os, chili, and all of our other supplies. Then we wrote on the cans with a black magic marker what was inside. It seemed like a reasonable solution to us.
We had gotten away with our OD (olive drab) green cans on a couple of trips so like most other things, in time they expanded until they got a little out of hand. On the next trip the plan was put together to have even better food. The food produced by our mess section had gone down hill and it just seemed like it was a necessity to care of ourselves.
On one of the first mornings in the field the Cobra pilots were sitting around our little campfire cooking French toast. We had strawberries and all kinds of great toppings to put on top of the French toast. So there we were sitting on our campstools enjoying a really good breakfast when up walked the troop commander.
We all knew that what we were doing was not what he wanted to see. Still, the first words out of his mouth surprised us. He opened with, “What are you doing”? Now that was kind of a foolish thing to ask. It was pretty obvious what we were doing – we were eating French toast. Without missing a mouthful we responded with, “Eating French toast for breakfast”.
Next the commander asked a question more to the point. He exclaimed, “Do you know what the colonel will do if he catches you eating pogey bait”? I took the lead and replied, “Yes sir. You will be in trouble and we will be in trouble. We are getting rid of it as fast as we can. The best thing you can do is sit down and help us get rid of it.” The commander looked at me in surprise, thought for a moment and then looked around. He didn’t see the colonel so he sat down and had a good breakfast with us. The French toast was good and I was certain, much better than whatever the rest of the troops were eating at the hands of our cooks in the field. The commander seemed impressed with our field cooking skills and the finished product.
When the commander finished his breakfast he got up and started to leave. After a few steps he stopped, looked back at us and said, “If you have any more pogey bait get rid of it as fast as you can. I’ll check back to see how you are doing.” We took that to mean that he would be back to enjoy some food with us again. We did the entire field trip without being caught by the colonel or anyone that would get us into trouble. Our commander did stop in at the right time on one other occasion and help us get rid of some more of our pogey bait.
There are some things in life that you just shouldn’t leave to others. Providing food and water for me are two things that I learned should not be left to others. When they dropped the ball I suffered and I didn’t like that. The happiest and safest people are those who take care of themselves. They don’t have to perform or beg or depend on someone else to exist. There is freedom in being able to take care of yourself and slavery in depending on others. Whether we are talking about nations, families, or individuals, being free from dependence on others brings peace of mind and freedom.
On some of previous trips things had not gone as perfect as they could have. On one trip the executive officer failed to have the water buffalo (a trailer loaded with water) filled and brought to the field. In hot Texas weather being without water was a big deal. And on another trip the executive officer failed to order a meal for dinner so we went from lunch on one day to breakfast the next day without eating. From that I learned that taking care of yourself is what a person does if he doesn’t want to go thirsty or hungry. If you leave all control in the hands others there will be times they let you down. The only down side is that if you let yourself down you don’t have anyone else to blame.
So after being let down a couple of times it became pretty common to take some pogey bait as a backup plan. After it was discovered that we were taking pogey bait we were told one time that the commander did not want to see anything that wasn’t OD green. So we took spray paint and painted all of the cans of Spaghetti Os, chili, and all of our other supplies. Then we wrote on the cans with a black magic marker what was inside. It seemed like a reasonable solution to us.
We had gotten away with our OD (olive drab) green cans on a couple of trips so like most other things, in time they expanded until they got a little out of hand. On the next trip the plan was put together to have even better food. The food produced by our mess section had gone down hill and it just seemed like it was a necessity to care of ourselves.
On one of the first mornings in the field the Cobra pilots were sitting around our little campfire cooking French toast. We had strawberries and all kinds of great toppings to put on top of the French toast. So there we were sitting on our campstools enjoying a really good breakfast when up walked the troop commander.
We all knew that what we were doing was not what he wanted to see. Still, the first words out of his mouth surprised us. He opened with, “What are you doing”? Now that was kind of a foolish thing to ask. It was pretty obvious what we were doing – we were eating French toast. Without missing a mouthful we responded with, “Eating French toast for breakfast”.
Next the commander asked a question more to the point. He exclaimed, “Do you know what the colonel will do if he catches you eating pogey bait”? I took the lead and replied, “Yes sir. You will be in trouble and we will be in trouble. We are getting rid of it as fast as we can. The best thing you can do is sit down and help us get rid of it.” The commander looked at me in surprise, thought for a moment and then looked around. He didn’t see the colonel so he sat down and had a good breakfast with us. The French toast was good and I was certain, much better than whatever the rest of the troops were eating at the hands of our cooks in the field. The commander seemed impressed with our field cooking skills and the finished product.
When the commander finished his breakfast he got up and started to leave. After a few steps he stopped, looked back at us and said, “If you have any more pogey bait get rid of it as fast as you can. I’ll check back to see how you are doing.” We took that to mean that he would be back to enjoy some food with us again. We did the entire field trip without being caught by the colonel or anyone that would get us into trouble. Our commander did stop in at the right time on one other occasion and help us get rid of some more of our pogey bait.
There are some things in life that you just shouldn’t leave to others. Providing food and water for me are two things that I learned should not be left to others. When they dropped the ball I suffered and I didn’t like that. The happiest and safest people are those who take care of themselves. They don’t have to perform or beg or depend on someone else to exist. There is freedom in being able to take care of yourself and slavery in depending on others. Whether we are talking about nations, families, or individuals, being free from dependence on others brings peace of mind and freedom.
posted by Bruce | 1:19 PM
2 Comments:
We had some words like that in our mission. The term for a missionary that was essentially a slacker was "Jake". Who knows where that came from. But a good guess could be a former Elder Jake. When the mission split both groups kept using it. Perhaps there was an Mr. Poegy and he was once baited into doing something with civilian food. I think I'll have Poegy Bait for dinner tonight...
We had all sorts of made up words in the military but most of them were too crude to repeat. The common ones that everybody knew were, #1 for the best and #10 for the worst. Chow hall food was usually #10, homemade food #1 but you usually had to add the word G.I. to get the real emphasis, such as, "That food was #10, G.I.!!
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