Tuesday, November 30, 2004

More from the Eisenhower Center Files

File this one under "American Ingenuity." According to a few different men int he invasion, prior to D-Day one of the rations provided to the men was,

soup in a can that had a sealed center shaft holding a flammable material. You pried off the top of the shaft (like a beer can top) and lit a candle type wick. The center shaft heated immediately all the way to the bottom, and in about a minute or so you had a good hot soup!

A little thing, perhaps, but it is telling of the vastness of the war effort, the capabilities of the American system. One of my favorite scenes in "Band of Brothers" is when the Americans are riding in two columns of trucks and tanks in Germany, with thousands of German prisoners shuffling by on foot or with horses pulling wagon-wheeled carriages. One of the Americans stands up in the back of his truck and starts screaming at the Germans: "Hey you. That's right, you stupid Kraut bastards. THAT'S RIGHT. Say hello to Ford, and General f---in' Motors. You stupid fascist pigs. Look at you. You have HORSES! What were you thinking?!? Dragging our asses half way around the world, interrupting our lives. For what? You ignorant, servile scum. What the f--- are we doing here?"

Self-heating soup in a can. What were the Germans and Japanese thinking? We've had sixty years to make better soup. What are the terrorists thinking?

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