Culture
Culture
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More from: "My Time in Service."
Every single one of us who served, at one time or another had SOS for breakfast. Mostly we just wolfed it down for the calories. And it sure didn't look very appetizing. Until....
We got a guy in the Platoon from way back in the boonies of Alabama. He got in trouble, and they gave him a choice, Join the Army or go to Jail. He joined the Army.
He had only been with the Unit for a few days. And were weren't due to go to the Field for six weeks. So most guys just ate breakfast at the Mess Hall. Well, Mac saw the SOS, his eyes lit up, and he lathered the sauce all over the biscuits.
He sat down with a plate full of SOS, we all stared. None of us had ever seen anyone take that big of a portion. Nor did Soldiers usually light up when they saw that stuff congealing on the steam table.
Mac took a big bite. His face changed. He spit it back out. And in a really loud voice yelled:
"Who made this Sh*t? This sucks. Are you a Yankee or something? Jesus Christ, how can anyone eat this crap? "
And he stormed out of the Mess Hall.
The Cooks, to put it mildly ...were not impressed. They were mad as heck. The E7 in charge of the Mess Hall found out what Company Mac was in, and spoke with the Company Commander.
Mac got called into the Old Man's Office. We heard a lot of shouting, swearing and a deep Southern drawl.
Then it got quiet.
Mac and the E7 went to the wherever the Mess Hall gets its groceries. That night on the Bulletin Board was a note:
"SOS will be served starting at 0500 hrs. It will be made by one of our troops, not the Cooks. There will be slips of paper at the door. After you eat some, please write a comment. And vote on whether our Cooks, or the Soldier make the best SOS."
Well it wasn't even close. What Mac made was more than edible. And he made the biscuits from his Mom's recipe. I forget what he called them...skillet biscuits, or something like that. The gravy and sausage both had flavor galore. And when the Mess Hall Closed at 0700...there wasn't any SOS left.
Mac couldn't get transferred to a Cook MOS. He had to stay Infantry. But he did teach our Cooks his secret recipe. And whenever we had SOS, well people snuck into our Mess Hall instead of going to their own Mess Hall.
Mac told everyone: "If you are going to make biscuits and gravy, you better be from the South, or Black- or both! "
And I have found that to be generally true.
Every single one of us who served, at one time or another had SOS for breakfast. Mostly we just wolfed it down for the calories. And it sure didn't look very appetizing. Until....
We got a guy in the Platoon from way back in the boonies of Alabama. He got in trouble, and they gave him a choice, Join the Army or go to Jail. He joined the Army.
He had only been with the Unit for a few days. And were weren't due to go to the Field for six weeks. So most guys just ate breakfast at the Mess Hall. Well, Mac saw the SOS, his eyes lit up, and he lathered the sauce all over the biscuits.
He sat down with a plate full of SOS, we all stared. None of us had ever seen anyone take that big of a portion. Nor did Soldiers usually light up when they saw that stuff congealing on the steam table.
Mac took a big bite. His face changed. He spit it back out. And in a really loud voice yelled:
"Who made this Sh*t? This sucks. Are you a Yankee or something? Jesus Christ, how can anyone eat this crap? "
And he stormed out of the Mess Hall.
The Cooks, to put it mildly ...were not impressed. They were mad as heck. The E7 in charge of the Mess Hall found out what Company Mac was in, and spoke with the Company Commander.
Mac got called into the Old Man's Office. We heard a lot of shouting, swearing and a deep Southern drawl.
Then it got quiet.
Mac and the E7 went to the wherever the Mess Hall gets its groceries. That night on the Bulletin Board was a note:
"SOS will be served starting at 0500 hrs. It will be made by one of our troops, not the Cooks. There will be slips of paper at the door. After you eat some, please write a comment. And vote on whether our Cooks, or the Soldier make the best SOS."
Well it wasn't even close. What Mac made was more than edible. And he made the biscuits from his Mom's recipe. I forget what he called them...skillet biscuits, or something like that. The gravy and sausage both had flavor galore. And when the Mess Hall Closed at 0700...there wasn't any SOS left.
Mac couldn't get transferred to a Cook MOS. He had to stay Infantry. But he did teach our Cooks his secret recipe. And whenever we had SOS, well people snuck into our Mess Hall instead of going to their own Mess Hall.
Mac told everyone: "If you are going to make biscuits and gravy, you better be from the South, or Black- or both! "
And I have found that to be generally true.
Food/Chow
Cook
Culture
People
Soldier
Edited 7 d ago
Posted 7 d ago
Responses: 9
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my mother made creamed tuna on toast so I was familiar to the food and grew to like SOS, except they used hamburger instead of sausage. My mother always used fresh cream from our separator.
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We had company mess halls in a couple of the units I was around early. Dad made SOS at home and the cooks did a pretty good job of duplicating his version. Plus, it was the only breakfast you could eat all you want. I am not a SOS hater.
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