Tootsie Rolls Saved Troops at the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir

Thank you, my friend CW5 Jack Cardwell for sharing. Truth can often by stranger than fiction. Frozen tootsie rolls can be eaten [carefully] and their is enough energy packed into those concoctions that they boosted morale and provided some basic sustenance.
Additionally, "the soldiers started using the putty-like-substance to patch bullet holes in vehicles, hoses, and other equipment. "
Thanks for posting a great account.


I am posting below for thsoe who can't get access.
"Troops were stationed at Chang Jin mountain reservoir. The Americans there had taken to calling it the Chosin Reservoir. As you might expect, the conditions left a lot to be desired.
The reservoir temperatures ranged from minus five degrees in the day to minus 25 at night. Everything froze. Food rations were difficult to impossible to warm up, and the artillery shells weren’t going off with any regularity.
The 15,000 troops were facing off against a division of 120,000 men. Strongly outnumbered, outgunned, and undersupplied, the troops weren’t sure what to do next.
One thing was clear—if they didn’t get a supply drop, they were goners. Nearly out of mortar shells, the troops called for an airdrop using the code name they’d established for artillery: Tootsie Rolls.
To their surprise, when the airdrop arrived, it was filled not with ammunition, but with actual Tootsie Rolls!
The chocolate flavored candies froze in the inhuman temperatures, but the great thing about Tootsie Rolls is that they’re edible even when they’re frozen.
The sugar boost turned out to be just the jolt the troops needed. Realizing that when the candy was warmed up, it became a kind of putty, the troops were hit with a brilliant idea. The chewed-up Tootsie Rolls would become pliable when warm, but they would quickly freeze again when exposed to the freezing wind.
The soldiers started using the putty-like-substance to patch bullet holes in vehicles, hoses, and other equipment.
With their equipment fixed, the men collected their injured and frostbitten comrades, punched a hole through the enemy lines, and retreated to safety. The men who survived the battle started calling themselves the “Chosin Few” in commemoration of this once in a lifetime experience.

Tootsie Roll Story
"LtCol Andy Traynor, USMC (Ret), and Major Dave Vickers, USMC (Ret), tell a unique story of how Marines used Tootsie Rolls during the Chosin Reservoir campaign."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8emP0_xDP2Q

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen PO1 H Gene Lawrence PO2 Kevin Parker CPT Scott Sharon SSG William Jones SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer CWO3 Dennis M. PO3 Bob McCord SGT (Join to see)

CW5 Jack Cardwell That is one i had never heard before.

CW5 Jack Cardwell To me this is one of the most creative ideas that came our of a disaster. I read this in a book.