 
Remember When
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C rations dating back to WWII sometimes
That awful c ration pork patties with 10 lbs. of fat
That oversized tablet of cocoa, that you pounded the hell out of with your bayonet, helmet or rock and all it did was crack into chunks, trying to dissolve it and it never really did melt down you could make 2 or 3 cups of it and still have a lump not yet dissolved in your canteen cup, I even ran my jeep back and forth on it, and still all it did was crack
Drink any hot liquid from your canteen cup and burn your lip on the rim, wait for rim to cool off and by then your drink was no longer hot
Ammo some of it dating from 1918
Getting an M-1 thumb
Postscript Re Holland
When I was a young trooper for some reason I was down around 18 Airborne Corps HQ. I see a SFC in his class A,s approaching me and I see his CIB. 4 stars on his wings,numerous ribbons, and that bright Order of Orange on his left shoulder, and both shoulders were 82nd Airborne Division insignia. Said Hi sarge, he said how they hanging young trooper? Didn't have the nerve to ask him about Holland and to this day I am sorry I did not. He was the only guy I ever saw that had that order. I guess there were others but I never saw one.
Lou Schreiner
I can't say positively that we came from every state of the union, but if we didn't we must have most of them covered. We had a guy from Alaska, don't recall his name right now, but we called him Ekimo guy, he'd say you mean Eskimo, we'd say no Ekimo, he'd say actually I'm an Innuit. I'd say you mean Aleut, he'd say no. Ray would ask him to send home for some blubber. I'd say sure you don't play an Aleut (a lute) he'd always laugh at us said we made the time fly.
Guy from Ireland not yet a citizen Tom Ford he later went on NYPD. Sgt. George Kukawa (may be mispelt) he was from Hawaii, always laughed and said to us he was a coconut head. Norman Pico full blooded Pima, I talked to him a lot about Ira Hayes (of Iwo Jima Flag Raising Fame). We had Hungarian freedom fighters, black,white,brown and every color in between. Best bunch of guys I ever knew.
Lou Schreiner
The I Wanted To Be One But Guys
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One I met going back to Bragg from an emergency leave, he takes in my wings, boots, etc. Says to me I wanted to go airborne but my mom has heart trouble and I didn't want her to worry.
Another guy tells me he would have been one except he had a bad back.
Another guy I met said he would have been a trooper but he would have had to enlist for 6 years (this is 1964) else they wouldn't let him be one.
Guy tells me one time I wanted to jump from planes but the 82nd wasn't an active unit anymore (this around 1969) and he didn't want to be in the 11th Airborne.
Guy tells me one time he would have been a trooper except the airborne quota for then was already filled when he went in.
You met them I'm sure same as I did. Never did figure them out. Did you?
Lou Schreiner
The I Was One Guys They Really Weren't
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You met these guys too.
You ask what kind of a chute did you use, they go Huh? Or I don't remember.
You tell about the time your canopy light burnt out on a night jump, it happened to him once too.
Tell him how your sky hook slipped that time, he says it never happened to him.
Tell him how the Sgt. didn't like you always made you sweep out the plane as you pushed the stick, he says, Yeah some of them guys were real pains.
Met a guy recently, lucky for him I have mellowed out. Tells me how he was with Special Forces, all of the jumps he made into North Vietnam. Says to me didn't the 503 get sent to Italy around 1962. I say no, that is the 203rd you are thinking about. He says oh that,s right. Tell him yeah and I remember the 615th went to Spain that year for manuevers, tells me he recalls what a good outfit they were.
And so on and so on.
Lou Schreiner
Our Friends The Red Cross
I had read several accounts about the Red Cross selling cigarettes to the doughboys in WWI, whereas the YMCA were giving them to them for nothing.
My dad told me and I also heard this from numerous other WWII vets who served in various theatres, said they often sold coffee to the guys as they came out of the lines.
This is what they did for me. I was on guard duty at Bragg, about 0330 hrs. the O.D. comes with a man to relieve me, that there is an emergency at home trooper. Takes me to see the Red Cross rep. They check there are no planes leaving Pope AFB heading north that night, so rep has me sign a voucher to pay them back the $33 for bus fare to NY in 3 payments. Ask if I can get $50 naturally I will pay it back tell him I am broke. It was about 8 days from when the eagle s - - t, he says no can do. He did give me a little shaving kit for free though. Wow! Get outside the Lieutenant says heres $20 pay me when you can. Paid him back the next pay day.
In Germany with 504 my dad writes family in financial straits can I borrow some money from the Army Emergency Relief Fund. Didn't know what it was at the time. Ask Cunningham, he takes me to see 3 NCO,s who would decide if funds were necessary. Tell my tale of woe. Sgt asks how much you want, tell him $100 if possible. Says no problem, I will make arrangments for check to go out. Tells me you don't have to pay it back. Tell him I want to. He asks how much time you got left on this hitch. 20 months sarge, okay makes arrangements I pay $5 a month taken out of my pay. Sometimes the Army took care of it's own. Thank you Army Emergency Relief Fund. Red Cross you gets no funds from this former trooper.
Lou Schreiner
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Handy G.I. German Phrases & Pronunciation
Dry beer bitter
Vee gates shot zee
Mocks nick
Ish habben hunger
Ein schnitzel bitter
Tasser veen yah
Schnapps yah
cone yak gut yah
Vo ist dee barn hof
Vo ist dee strassen barn
Don ker shane
Vee full kaster dass
Nine marks habben
Zane marks do bist fear rick
Ish been ein foul shim yayger
Ish been crank
Submitted with apologies to Berlitz Language Courses
By Lude vig (G.I. version)
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The Dumb Mad Russian
Several years after I got back on the block and was living in a house next door to a guy who liked to style himself as The Mad Russian, but we called him The Not Quite All There Russian.
He was one of the older guys when I was growing up, about 4 years older then me.
Anyway one day I am standing outside awaiting the delivery of a refrigerator I had purchased talking to another friend of mine. The Mad Russian sees my airborne tatoo and asks how come I had been a paratrooper.
He had never been in the service but was a Lt. Commander in the Sea Scouts. I tell him that when I was in basic, the first day it started raining, they fall us in outside, and all the Sgts. take off. Guys sneak inside right away,
they go into air force, guys sneak in a little later
go in navy, other guys sneak in they go in infantry or marines, the guys like me who stayed out especially when the lightening began, wind up airborne. He says he thought it was strictly volunteer, I say usually but they had a shortage of troops. He says man that ain't right making you jump out of planes when you didn't volunteer.
I know that this and variations of this has been told as a joke probably at least since WWII but this is a true story. Also even after the Mad Russian knew I became a police officer,
he would do idiotic things like breaking windows and I locked him up 6 or 7 times.
Lou Schreiner
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Do You Remember?
Who ran over 1st Sgt. Doty's foot (intentionally?) up in Baumholder luckily ground was wet and muddy.
The run by Head & Head, when the warrant officer,fell down, guys run over and by him,yelling leg and the other usual barbs,come back find he is still on ground dead of a heart attack
How they took you to the field even if you were in a cast, arm,leg,ankle, it machts nicht
The Sgt. (a helluva guy) nicknamed "Nickel Night" by the troops? His goal was that on nickel night at EM club, he would cover his table with 40 bottles of beer, wanting to see the night he could down them all. He never did but used to tie one on, and was always good for a brew.
On the motor march to where ever we were headed, take a p - - s call, Speedy 5 Boylan notices loose tarp on ammo trailer, goes to tie it down, discovers the grenade, pin pulled, safety handle taped but almost worked loose,on top of the 81mm mortar shells Believe it was near May Day of 61.
The guy who I think was a speedy 4, goes back to the world, becomes a 2nd Lt. after going to O.C.S., takes command of what I believe was his original platoon. A great guy and great trooper.
The trooper that went home on 30 day leave back to Los Angeles to shoot his fiance who had dear johnned him. My dad sent the photo of him sitting on roof afterwards in his fatigues surrounded by cops, he surrendered after a couple of hours. Both his ex and Jodie were dead or seriously wounded, not sure which.
Lou Schreiner
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