War Fare

I WAS SURPRISED THAT IN HER OTHER wise comprehensive history of rations (“Dinner Goes to War,” Summer 1998), Barbara Moran made no mention of the Long Range Patrol (LRP) ration, introduced during the Vietnam War and known to almost every field soldier of the time as “the Lurp.” Packaged in a dark-green foil-lined pouch, it provided a lightweight dehydrated main meal in a plastic bag. Adding hot or cold water resulted in a surprisingly tasty entrée, and it came with a chocolate bar. It also provided the significant advantage of relative silence.

In the seventies and eighties I was always amused to find that the main dehydrated backpacking foods that were commercially available were the same flavors made by the same firms as the Lurps we ate in Vietnam.

Philip J. Gioia
Sausalito, Calif.