As an infantry Marine, we didn't ever complain about a hot meal, whether in the mess hall or in the field with vat cans. A hot meal always trumped C-rats.
This^^^ . We transitioned from C's to MRE's about midway through my tour, 82-83 maybe? Those first gen MRE's were different, for certain. Never did figure out what we were supposed to do with those dehydrated, 'styrofoam'' strawberries and peaches...soak in a canteen cup full of water, and they turned into a gooey mush that was just nasty, and don't even try to eat them dry, lol.
This thread makes me want to dig out a 'beef with spiced sauce' C ,a 'chocolate choke roll' and a canteen cup of 'beverage, coffee, dehydrated' , heated up over a can of burning peanut butter (with a squirt of bug juice to get it lit) and re-live the days of my youth!
