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2 Oz. Medical "Sick Bay" Brandy at Iwo Jima-Running Vet Joke


uplandmod
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Being up to my 10th book about Iwo Jima it is great to see that a lot of the vets had some shared experiences such as eating steak and eggs as their meal before the invasion.

 

 

Five books mention the 2oz. Medical brandy they were even given the morning of the invasion. It's sort of a running Iwo Jima vet joke that they all seem to share although they were in different divisions and units. Vedder makes an issue of it in his Surgeon At Iwo where it seemed the Medical Brandy was used for everything but medical purposes. In fact he used his to barter with a bull dozer to make a road for evacuation. In Trust Truth and Evil Bill Onstad's platoon were given the 2oz bottles since no one drank he ended up with 8 bottles. He said he drank them all up on the second day but it was like water because he was so scared. I would have to look up the others but it appears to be a shared experience between the vets of Iwo Jima.

 

So I must ask does anybody have a picture or have one of these USMC/Navy issued 2oz Brandy Bottles in their collections? It appears they came in cardboard cases of 24. I would love to see a picture of these or include one in My Iwo Jima collection.

 

Thank You

Leonardo

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craig_pickrall

My father was an Army medic. He used to tell the story of how he could get Medical Alcohol (pure grain) and Cokes. There was a USN Seabee unit stationed just down the road from them that was a refrigeration unit. In other words they could make ice. The ice was probably more in demand than the booze but they couldn't get booze or cokes so it was a match made in heaven. The Army Medics and the Navy Seabees were a very happy unit that got along very well together. He never said anything about any other alcohol that he could get. Army Officers did get a booze ration though.

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My father was an Army medic. He used to tell the story of how he could get Medical Alcohol (pure grain) and Cokes. There was a USN Seabee unit stationed just down the road from them that was a refrigeration unit. In other words they could make ice. The ice was probably more in demand than the booze but they couldn't get booze or cokes so it was a match made in heaven. The Army Medics and the Navy Seabees were a very happy unit that got along very well together. He never said anything about any other alcohol that he could get. Army Officers did get a booze ration though.

 

 

I love it when there is inter branch co-operation! Fantastic story Craig!

 

Leonardo

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A bit out of topic but you have to know that the italian soldiers always were given a lot of spirit since WWI (or maybe before). My grandad told me that during WWI alcohol was liberally offered to soldiers just before they had to jump out the trenches for an assault. It was a good alternative to being shot on the spot for cowardy. When I had my duty, we were given (as many as we want) nice small polythene bags containing about one shot of brandy or schnaps to be drinken during outside garrison services in the cold of the jugoslavian border winter. These bags were prepared and so marked by the Army Medical Department in Florence. Being the taste always the same, I think the department himself would distill and pack the booze. Of course there was also 1 liter bottles of the same spirits with Department label. Moreover we have in the dinner room a very big barrel of wine with a tap and you during the meal could fill your cup as many times as you want. In despite of all that. I've never seen a single drunk soldier.

In the pic the 3/100 of a liter of schnaps (grappa) plastic bag.

post-67-1336801567.jpg

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  • 5 months later...

Another peice of the mystery:

 

I'm reading Life The Hard Way: Up From Proverty Flat by Eugene Curnow who was a Corpsman on the USS Sanborn at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Here's a quote from his book.

 

"As a medical corpsman I carried 24 two oz bottles of 100 proof apricot Brandy made in Santa Clara CA and had a reputation of being the best"

 

I wonder what distillery this could be?

 

Leonardo

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