This morning I was at the breakfast table reading the newspaper and wondering what I was going to have for breakfast. I remembered having some ham in the refrigerator so decided to have some ham and a couple of eggs. The aroma coming from that ham was delightful and when I began that feast the old mind jumped back to the spring of 1951.
About six of us were on detached service. Most of my time in Korea was on detached service so that was nothing new. I don't remember where we were. Our only vehicle was a repair truck in which we spent most of our time. The six of us slept in a huge warehouse. We always had a coffee pot working overtime in our repair truck and a hotplate to heat our "C" rations. One day, one of the guys said he sure would like to have some ham and eggs. Of course, we laughed and asked him where was he going to get gat ham and eggs.
One morning, about two days later, we could hear a rooster crowing off in the distance. Where there is a rooster, there should be some hens and where there are hens, there should be some eggs. So, off we went in search of the source of the crowing rooster. We found the source and asked the owner if he had eggs for sale. We told him we needed at least six and more if he had them available. He had several customers for his eggs but he did let us have six. One of the guys asked him if he would sell one of his chickens. He said "no" because he needed his hens for their eggs.
During WW2 we were issued rations for six or twelve men. Among the breakfast items was a can of bacon. I don't recall ever seeing a can of bacon in Korea. A can of that bacon would have been an excellent addition to our one egg per man meal. But that egg was a pure delight, a break from our "C" ration menu.