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CUCVRUS Repair Projects

jeffhuey1n

SMSgt, USAF (Ret.)
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View attachment 902699
This was a 1976 Chev 5/4 ton truck after we finished dropping it out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft. It was full of SA ammo(7.62mm) that scattered and had to be reboxed
I’ve seen some pictures of pancaked loads. Somewhere there’s a picture of a H-60 that was dropped. It was massively damaged! Various cars and trucks going splat, always a bit of fun. My lone “No shizzle, I was there stories” involved 6-7 pallets of the 1st generation of MRE’s (meals rejected by everyone) loaded in the back of a CH-53A to be parachuted down onto a LZ. We were testing the feasibility of pushing them out the back while in flight vs landing and pushing them off. We pushed the first pallet back to the leveled ramp, hooked up the lanyard and pushed it out the back. First chute failed to open. The pallet blew up when it hit the ground from the sheer weight of the meals. Second pallet went out. This time the chute deployed but it streamered (chute didn’t open). More MRE’s scattered around. Three and four failed to open as well. By this time the feasibility wasn’t looking very good. The 5th went out and the chute open perfectly. Unfortunately, the cordage holding the chute to the ballet failed. More MRE’s scattered. Number 6 went out, and the chute opened just like in the movies. It gracefully floated down towards and landed on a 100 ft tall tree. It didn’t blow up. I always wondered how they got the pallet down before it blew up. The last chute worked perfectly. It landed right dead center in the middle of the LZ. It was sitting upright with no breakage. The only problem with the last pallet was it landed on top of several hundred MRE’s. There was no way to get to the pallet with a forklift directly without crushing. Someone (not me!) had to unload the whole thing by hand. That was the last time we were tasked with dropping off a few pallets of food!
 

Another Ahab

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I’ve seen some pictures of pancaked loads. Somewhere there’s a picture of a H-60 that was dropped. It was massively damaged! Various cars and trucks going splat, always a bit of fun. My lone “No shizzle, I was there stories” involved 6-7 pallets of the 1st generation of MRE’s (meals rejected by everyone) loaded in the back of a CH-53A to be parachuted down onto a LZ.
:beer: :funny: :beer:
 

Another Ahab

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We were a Cold War Seabee Battalion, and sat on the cusp of the old C-rations phasing out and the new MRE's phasing in:

- Of all that nasty (but evidently nutritious) chow we were given in the field...

I will say that the C-Rats "Chicken Spread" on the canned crackers was hands-down my favorite!!
 

jeffhuey1n

SMSgt, USAF (Ret.)
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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113
Location
Laramie County, Wyoming
We were a Cold War Seabee Battalion, and sat on the cusp of the old C-rations phasing out and the new MRE's phasing in:

- Of all that nasty (but evidently nutritious) chow we were given in the field...

I will say that the C-Rats "Chicken Spread" on the canned crackers was hands-down my favorite!!
I was kinda partial towards beamy weenies and spaghetti. The absolute worst was ham and Lima beans. Just the smell of it would send people running for an outhouse.
 

jeffhuey1n

SMSgt, USAF (Ret.)
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
Laramie County, Wyoming
S
Well guys, you had gourmet meals.

Have you ever heard of powder potato smash with chemical lard sauce? :D
And pickled green tomatoes.... öäghhh

OK, in Polish border we had canned meat with macaroni in sundays.
Sounds like my Dad’s cooking. Fried green tomatoes, green tomato jam, red tomato jam, pickles cow’s tongue/liver/heart, fried cow stomach (also known as tripe)…
Dad was born in 1929. The Great Depression hit right around that time. If it could be caught, they’d stick it into a pot. If it grew in a garden (or country ditch or anywhere and anything that was green) they’d throw that into the pot, add some potatoes, carrots, egg plant (🤮) and maybe some rutabaga (🤮🤮). Really glad I didn’t grow up in them times. The ‘60’s were bad enough!
 

Another Ahab

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Dad was born in 1929. The Great Depression hit right around that time. If it could be caught, they’d stick it into a pot. If it grew in a garden (or country ditch or anywhere and anything that was green) they’d throw that into the pot,
Story about snails being a gourmet item?

During random (and common famines) back in the day in France (the Middle Ages)...

The Royal family even was reduced to eating anything they could find, to stay alive...

They once had to resort to snails, as the only food at the time that could be scrounged up...

When times got good again, the Royals did not want to be regarded as EVER having been desperate...

So snails were served up, as a special "delicacy" (smoother ANYTHING in enough butter, and it becomes fairly palatable).

*Our Mom was a WWII War Bride (our Dad romanced her, after the war, away from her home in Paris). She was the one that told us all that story.
Apparently it's something she was told as part of growing up in France.
 

cucvrus

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I was looking thru some papers and books in the house and came across a Mitchell collision estimating guide I used back in the day. April 1997. Check out the pricing of Genuine GM parts
IMG_0378.jpeg fenders and inner aprons
An entire cab although it was discontinued
IMG_0380.jpeg
Genuine GM dash pads
IMG_0379.jpeg
Tailgates were less than $200.
IMG_0382.jpeg
Doors for $175.
IMG_0383.jpeg
Even at that time GM had discontinued the radiators IMG_0384.jpeg
Just sharing this with all of you. I have an older book when fenders were about $80.
 
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