| One 79th
veteran of the Okinawa "Gunto" invasion relates that, when one of the ships was
hit by enemy fire, hugs pallets carrying all the Kraft powdered ice cream mix in 5-gallon
containers ended up on shore. (By June of 1945, the Battalion was still eating field
rations.) Okinawa,
considered a sub-tropic with an average summer temperature of 89 degrees and a humidity of
77 percent, one of the 79th Ensigns easily envisioned a potential trade and swapped a
5-gallon container of ice cream mix with an Army outfit in exchange for an Army
"Duck". An Army "Duck was a less heavily
armored vehicle with a waterproofed hull and propeller, which was used during World War II
in the Pacific theatre for establishing and supplying beachheads.
According to the story,
the shrewd Ensign loaded up the Army "Duck" with beached ice cream containers,
obtained a megaphone, and blared out an offering of powdered ice cream mix to various
ships' crews in exchange for fresh meat. Thanks to one ingenious 79th Ensign, the
Battalion thenceforth had fresh meat everyday for dinner. |
