SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018 | 7A Siuslaw News Community Voices Military Heritage Chronicles — Cal Applebee Special to Siuslaw News W e’ve covered a broad range of topics over the years in the Chronicles, and I thought we’d touch on food fed to our troops over the years. After all, I am a distant relative of the Applebee restaurant franchise — but as we say in my side of the family, “We know them, but they don’t know us.” This topic really covers the en- tire alphabet with something for every palate — richness, bland- ness, sweetness and salty. Starting with the Civil War, when field kitchens on the bat- tle fields couldn’t keep up with the task of feeding troops due to complex logistics, the govern- ment attempted to feed soldiers with salt pork and hardtack — a stale biscuit — as an early at- tempt at individual rations. While both the North and the South attempted to follow ra- tions guidelines, with the field kitchens not keeping up and rations somewhat problematic, soldiers often had to in-fill when they could from local resources or the occasional food box from home. However, the lessons learned would benefit those serving in World War I. After the hardtack experience in the Civil War days, in the pre- WWI years, the government began developing different ra- tion levels for different needs. Between 1907 and 1937, those evolved as “Iron Ration” for sol- diers in the field, consisting of combination of cakes, chocolate and salt/pepper. The “Trench Ration” devel- oped specifically for the dough- boys serving overseas consisted of canned meats. It was devel- oped primarily in response to field kitchen meals being spoiled by the gas attacks. The end of WWI saw the de- velopment of “Reserve Ration,” utilized up to 1937. Its con- tents were expanded to include canned meat, coffee, sugar, salt and bacon. Oh, and hardtack was back as well. In the years leading up to WWII, attempts to improve the rations included substituting pork and beans and chocolate. At one point, there were five variations: A-ration or Garrison Ration, B-ration or Field Ration, C-ration or Individual Ration, K-ration as another Individual Ration, and D-ration or Emer- gency Ration. Each had various combinations of contents. Some rations were produced with whatever meat and produce that could be obtained locally, so product contents could vary. In post-WWII years, the C-Ration would continue to Food for Thought evolve as the “Meal Combat, In- dividual” (MCI), and after 1983, the “Meal, Ready to Eat” (MRE) that we still have today. In addi- tion, A- and B-rations are still in use. Pentagon officials eventu- ally realized that the nutrition needs of the modern soldier went beyond serving an across- the-board balanced meal in the field. Armed forces serving in various regions, combat situa- tions and missions received dif- ferent meal ingredients, hope- fully lighter in weight as combat soldiers carried increasingly heavier loads in the field. The “Long Range Patrol,” or LRP Ration, evolved in the mid- 1960s, with a water-proof can- vas pouch. In the mid-1970s, the dehydrated meal in a plastic pouch began to evolve, first see- ing service in 1981. The MRE has become the mainstay since then, incorpo- rating modern dietary needs. Although designed for military use, the MRE has also been distributed in times of disaster for civilian consumption. And despite a warning statement on the carton “commercial resale is unlawful,” I have seen MREs on the shelf at surplus stores, and in fact, have a carton in my “prepper supplies” acquired at a garage sale some years back — although I haven’t tried any yet! MREs have not evolved with- out some controversy — partic- ularly as to what the abbrevia- tion actually stands for. Some variations include “Meals Rejected by Everyone,” “Meals Rarely Edible” and “Meals Ready to Exit,” among those that can be printed in the press. Any discussion about food for our troops would be incom- plete without mentioning two entrées — SPAM, and M&M’s. Both used extensively in WWII, they not only served our troops well and survived, but went on to serve our society with dis- tinction to this day. Introduced in 1937 by Hor- mel Foods, SPiced hAM was used in B-rations and, by 1944, 90 percent of Hormel’s supply was going to the military. By April 1945, 100 million pounds of SPAM had been shipped abroad. Even though I am not a Veteran, I have eaten my fair share of SPAM and it too is in our prepper supplies. The early Mars Candy Com- pany introduced M&M’s in 1941 and it was issued as part of the C-ration during WWII, as the hard sugar coating prevent- ed them from melting in the hotter climates. Returning sol- diers kept the taste for the sweat treat. In 1948, they changed from the original tube contain- er issued to the military to the bags we see today. I hope this has given you a taste of what our soldiers over the decades have had to con- sume. And if not, maybe we’ll schedule a SPAM-fest at the Or- egon Coast Military Museum in the future! You can learn more about mil- itary heritage by visiting www. oregoncoastmilitarymuseum. com or stopping in at 2145 King- wood St. in Florence. Us TOO Florence — Behind the headlines O Bob Horney Special to Siuslaw News ESTATE SALE 2888 Munsel Lake Road Saturday & Sunday July 21st & 22nd 9:00-4:00 n June 23, I spent about six hours attending a webi- nar conference from Kirkland, Wash., presented by Us TOO In- ternational. The conference was titled, “Prostate Cancer Pathways for Patients and Caregivers.” Since it was presented as a we- binar, I could attend it from the comfort of my home in Florence, which I did. Presenters included Dr. Jon- athan Wright, Medical Director of the UWMC Urology Clinic and UW associate professor of Urology; Dr. Brian Lawenda, Ra- diation oncologist at Northwest Cancer Clinic and 21st Century Oncology; Dr. Cobie Whitten, Psycho-Oncology Consultant at Providence Regional Cancer System; Katie Stoll, Executive Di- rector at Genetic Support Foun- dation; and Dr. Heather Cheng, Director Prostate Cancer Genet- ics Clinic. One thing that was clear from the get-go was that each pre- senter was an established expert in his/her field. Their presenta- tions, with accompanying slides, were of highest professionalism and gave critical information for prostate cancer patients and care- givers. I was greatly impressed with the level of information brought by each presenter. On the other hand, as the we- binar concluded, I realized I had a good basis for understanding much of the material and infor- mation that they covered. Why? Chalk that up to having had Urologist Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff, Prostate Cancer Specialist at Or- egon Urology Institute (OUI), attending our Us TOO Florence meetings since 2004. In addition, his years with us have been sup- plemented by a combined 8 years with Urologists Dr. Doug Hoff and Dr. Roger McKimmy at our lunch meetings. But, Mehlhaff is the key to all Partial List of Items: • Samsung 40” TV • Oak Dining Table Set • Coffee Table • Entertainment Center • Cloth Love Seat • Recliner • Bed Side Tables Buying or Selling? I can help. Price Reduced • King Size Bed • Queen Size Bed Brian Jagoe Principal Broker 541 999-1314 • Curio Cabinet • Art • Chest of Drawers • Table Lamps • Garage Storage • Front Load Washer and Dryer with Pedestals • Kitchen Items • Cookware • Assorted Collectibles, Adult & Childrenʼs Clothing, Blankets, Linens and lots of misc. For more information contact aric@cbcoast.com Manzanita Drive #1100 – Corner lot with room to build your dream home! Well and septic are in so all you need are the plans! $89,500. #2761- 17458403 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 DENTURE SERVICES INC. LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED Open 4 days a week! Here to serve your denture needs: Dentures Partial Dentures Immediate Dentures Implant Dentures Relines & Repairs Same Day Monday-Thursday 10am - 2 pm 524 Laurel St. 541-997-6054 William Foster LD Sherry, Offi ce Manager “As a denture wearer myself, I can answer your questions and address your denture concerns.” ~ William Foster, LD Financing: Citi Health Card 12 Month no Interest the information we receive, just as he is the key to keeping every- one at OUI on the front line with prostate cancer care. By attending the webinar and listening to those prostate can- cer experts share their expertise on varied aspects of the disease, I came away with an increased appreciation of the expert level of information we receive right here in Florence — and that it is avail- able twice a month. All it takes is showing up at Ichiban Restaurant the second Tuesday of the month from 5 to 7 p.m. with Mehlhaff or the third Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. with McKimmy and his PA, Cameron Derbyshire. The doctors’ reasons for join- ing us are to keep us current with the latest in diagnosis/treatment of prostate cancer and to answer all the questions that we have. I can assure you that there are very few meetings where we ar- en’t advised of something new that is working its way through clinical trials or hasalready re- ceived FDA approval and is being used somewhere in the U.S. The men and women who meet regularly with the urol- ogists have had a chance to keep up with dramatic chang- es in prostate cancer care, from screening to diagnosis and treat- ment. These changes are coming from many different directions as our researchers are pulling out all the stops in their search for better screening instruments, more definitive diagnostic tools and effective treatments for the cancer. Serious attention is being directed toward a new screen- ing instrument (IsoPSA) that appears to provide more pros- tate-cancer-specific information than the current PSA test. “To be clinically useful, a bio- marker must be both tissue-spe- cific and cancer-specific. While PSA is prostate-specific, it is not specific for prostate cancer, lead- ing to diagnostic inaccuracy and too many unneeded biopsies,” said Dr. Klein, chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute. “IsoPSA fulfills both the tissue- and cancer-spec- ificity needed for a useful bio- marker, and this validation study shows that it can more accurately detect high-grade cancer and re- duce the rate of unneeded biop- sies in patients at low risk of this disease.” Knowing the above study validated the results of an earli- er study is a good step forward. However, I’ve read enough ques- tions and concerns from promi- nent urologists to know IsoPSA isn’t a “slam dunk.” At this point, I sense that there are more ques- tions than answers about its use. I look forward to future Us TOO Florence meetings with Mehlhaff to see how it all plays out.