If you were in the army during the 60's and 70's chances are you have. The B-1 units as we called them consisted of small olive drab cans of meat, fruit, veggies and cakes. There was also a package of crackers, spread, cocoa, sugar, salt, pepper, gum, plastic utensils and cigarettes in each B-1 box.

A great deal of swapping went on amongst soldiers as you never knew what a B-1 contained until you opened it. The beans and franks were prized while the canned pork was not very good. The fruit cocktail was tasty but the fruit or date cakes were dry as a bone. As for the canned eggs, well I won't go there.

Many soldiers ( only briefly for me ) smoked in those days but for some reason the four pack of Newports seemed to dominate C-Rations over all other brands. One pack of Marlboros were easy worth two packs of Newports.

While the C-Rations gave GI's needed calories and sustained life they sure made a hot meal something to look forward to. Even the infamous S.O.S. would trump anything in that B-1.

Last time I checked my P38 was still hanging from my dog tags. Any vet from that era can tell you that C-Rations were of no use without a P38.