We had access to a BK at one of the FOBs I frequented in Iraq and although I’ve never been a huge fast food fan, that stuff was so good. It’s a huge morale booster. I’m sure that sounds simplistic as fuck, but you really come to appreciate the little things when you’re deployed.
During my conscription (finnish military), there was a kiosk sized civilian-staffed kitchen at the corner of the small recreational building of the base, where you could buy junk food during off-hours.
God, fried chicken tenders with some crappy fries have never tasted so good…
I lived in Korea at a time when there were scant few western food options outside of Seoul.
So a Burger King came to town, and we were taking expensive taxis across town to get our hands on a damn hamburger that was roughly twice as expensive as it would be in the states. We went daily, sometimes twice for the first couple weeks.
I was not in the military and was living a good life, but sometimes eating soup and rice at every meal can wear on your soul to the point where you’d murder a hooker turned good on the street in broad daylight for so much as a frozen gas station burrito.
Don’t even get me started on how excited I was to once find a six pack of Dr. Pepper on the black market.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that they’d bring burgers to a war zone.
Same. I’ve never been a Burger King fan, but dear Lord, that first whopper after months of eating nothing but MRE’s tasted better to me in that moment than any steak I’ve ever eaten, and that feeling of a full belly after actually enjoying a meal did wonders for my morale.
We had access to a BK at one of the FOBs I frequented in Iraq and although I’ve never been a huge fast food fan, that stuff was so good. It’s a huge morale booster. I’m sure that sounds simplistic as fuck, but you really come to appreciate the little things when you’re deployed.
Reminds me of that story of the US navy in WW2 having a ship dedicated to producing icecream for morale purposes.
I hope it patrolled the seas blaring that classic icecream truck music…
It’s too bad they cut that scene from The Hunt for Red October.
https://www.youtubemultiplier.com/656fd5a464f63-weapons-of-mass-destruction.php
Not sure “What Child is This” is the usual ice cream truck song, but it’s the Christmas season so I’ll let it slide.
Came looking for the ice cream story and was not disappointed.
Its highly memeable but this is the true answer.
The Psychological benefits of even a very short mental vacation from being deployed are hard to quantify but very real on top of the morale boost.
I knew a guy who served in Afghanistan and he said after a particularly long and brutal time in the field an ice cold can of coke made him cry.
During my conscription (finnish military), there was a kiosk sized civilian-staffed kitchen at the corner of the small recreational building of the base, where you could buy junk food during off-hours.
God, fried chicken tenders with some crappy fries have never tasted so good…
I’m not a big fan of BK, but I imagine going to the BK joint would be a semblance of normalcy.
Everyone is a fan of BK when all you’ve had for weeks on end is MREs and field rations. I ate like 15 burgers the first time we had BK in iraq.
I miss the Cheese and Bacon spread…and the Cheese & Jalapenos spread
I lived in Korea at a time when there were scant few western food options outside of Seoul.
So a Burger King came to town, and we were taking expensive taxis across town to get our hands on a damn hamburger that was roughly twice as expensive as it would be in the states. We went daily, sometimes twice for the first couple weeks.
I was not in the military and was living a good life, but sometimes eating soup and rice at every meal can wear on your soul to the point where you’d murder a hooker turned good on the street in broad daylight for so much as a frozen gas station burrito.
Don’t even get me started on how excited I was to once find a six pack of Dr. Pepper on the black market.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that they’d bring burgers to a war zone.
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Makes a lot of sense to me. Full disclosure I like Burger King.
For real though especially if you’re somewhere cold - a warm burger that tastes like home could be a huge help.
Same. I’ve never been a Burger King fan, but dear Lord, that first whopper after months of eating nothing but MRE’s tasted better to me in that moment than any steak I’ve ever eaten, and that feeling of a full belly after actually enjoying a meal did wonders for my morale.
My favourite was always the visits from the ether bunny.