Good vs. Evil
During the Korean War, Marines from the First Marine Division were surrounded, outnumbered, and running low on ammunition. A Marine jumped on the radio and called in for a shipment of “Tootsie Rolls,” the code name for 60 mm mortars. The radio operator on the other end didn’t have the code sheets, but sensed supplies were needed quickly. He took the request literally, and pallets of candy were shipped to the Chosin Reservoir. Leathernecks were initially pissed about the cargo but soon realized it was a blessing in disguise. The candy was used for nourishment, and Marines also chewed the candy until soft and used it to patch vehicle fuel lines cracking from the extreme cold. Many Korean War Marines credit their survival to the small, chocolate-flavored candy.
On the other hand, several Marines believe that eating Charms will bring bad luck. Charms, a product of the same company that makes Tootsie Rolls, were included in K-rations in WWII, but it wouldn’t be until the 1990s when Marines started connecting them to misfortune. Known as the “Curse of Charms,” Marines blamed the candy for problems during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, OEF, and OIF. The superstition even applies to individual candy flavors – lemon caused vehicles to break, lime caused it to rain, and raspberry would bring death. This belief was so common that everyone from Drill Instructors in boot camp to Marines in war zones would order the candy thrown away. It got so bad that in 2007, the DoD Combat Feeding Directorate removed them from individual rations altogether. But Charms would find their way back into MRE’s, a decision probably made by Satan himself.
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