Early this morning I wrote about Shelter Halves.
That got me thinking about its Cousin: The Mess Kit.
I kept mine for decades. (I know you were supposed to turn it in when you ETS'd, but I bought a few items that I wanted to keep- like my Field Jacket, that really cool cold weather hat with the velcro chin strap, and my mess kit)

My two daughters used my Mess Kit for their dollies dinners and Tea Parties way back in the 1980's. Alas...we moved a few more times than the Mess Kit could keep up with. It is lost to history now. But not without leaving some memories behind.

When I first got my Mess Kit (in Basic Training) I used to try to keep the food separated in the one tray, and then use the big tray for the meat and bread. Until I worked with a grizzled old Sergeant who must have been damn near thirty with two tours in Vietnam under his belt.
He explained to me that all the food goes to the same place in your body- your stomach. So why worry about keeping it separate in the mess kit? After eating lunch in the rain a couple of times, he was right. It wasn't worth the effort.

The spoon, fork, and knife, could all be used as weapons. And with those holes in the handles, well, you could string wire, wind rope, and slip them all on a D ring to keep them together. But it didn't last.

Most folks ended up (once they got to permanent party) with an incomplete mess kit. Just the trays...and maybe a spoon. Sometimes a knife. And those few soldiers who made Supernumerary (which I never knew was a Dental term!) well, they had all the utensils, and their kit shined.

Almost everyone had a spoon. Knives and forks would go missing...the forks because, well, who used them often? The knives were either bent or broken because well, knives have lots of uses besides cutting up meat that was born before I was. And for SOS...well a knife is about as useful as me in a Calculus Class. And most knives were bent and dull from all the "Field Expedient" uses they were put to; saw, screwdriver, to pry the lid off of ammo or oil cans and of course, as an ax. LOL

But the spoon? Even though it served as a mini entrenching tool at times, it was the one utensil that most of us seemed to be able to keep with the kit.

One of the best meals I ever ate was out of a Mess Kit in Germany. It was 1971...and we got a new head Cook. An E8 ...and those were rare for a Line Company. His first day as the Head Cook we were out in the Field (Area X) and he made Spaghetti and meatballs. It was beyond delicious. And if that wasn't enough, he made pan garlic biscuits to boot! Everyone, and I mean, everyone went back for seconds.

Nobody missed a single meal that ten day exercise. When we got back to Garrison - well, you can imagine. Within a week, people were coming from other Caserns to eat at our little Battalion Mess Hall. I am not a gourmet, but I know food that taste good is a treat. He even made omelettes for breakfast...to order. And Eggs Benedict and the lesser known Eggs Florentine.

It was to good to be true. It turns out he was General Westmoreland's personal Chef over in Vietnam. He accidentally got the wrong orders to our line Unit. So just six weeks after we had the luxury of really good food prepared by a really good cook...he was gone.

It was back to food that you didn't need to separate in your Mess Kit.