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July 25, 2009
Pound cake from 1969
The Army colonel popped open a military-issued can (left) of pound cake from 1969 at his retirement ceremony, and dug in. -- PHOTO: AP
WASHINGTON - FORTY years later, Henry A. Moak, Jr, still loves his pound cake. The Army colonel popped open a military-issued can of pound cake from 1969 at his retirement ceremony, and dug in.
Col Moak got the drab olive can as a Marine helicopter pilot off the Vietnamese coast in 1973. He vowed to hang on to it until the day he retired, storing it in a box with other mementos.
After a formal retirement ceremony, dozens of friends and relatives joined Col Moak in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes as he opened the can to cheers. Col Moak joked earlier this week that he hoped the can wouldn't explode. It let off a whooshing sound as the pressure seal broke.
'It smells good,' Col Moak said as he put a handful in his mouth. He jokingly staggered back and loudly cleared his throat, while one person yelled out, 'Eeww, gross!' Col Moak pronounced the cake 'good'.
'It's even a little moist,' he said, wiping his mouth. He dared anybody 'gutsy' enough to join him, and retired Lt Gen Paul T. Mikolashek, who was the US Army Europe commander when Col Moak served overseas, took an even bigger piece.
'Tastes just like it always did,' Gen Mikolashek mumbled with a mouthful of cake as Col Moak laughed and clapped.
Col Moak said he wasn't worried about getting sick from any bacteria that may have gotten into the old can, because it looked sealed. But the military discourages eating from old rations.
'Given the risks ... we do everything possible to ensure that overly aged rations are not consumed,' said Lawrence Levine, a spokesman for the Defence Supply Centre in Philadelphia.
Mr Levine named the threats as mold and deadly botulism if the sealing on the food has been broken, which isn't always visible.
Col Moak says though he warned his children over the years not to touch his pound cake, he did let them eat some other rations when they were growing up in the 1980s, including canned spaghetti and crackers.
And how did those taste? 'Fine. Well ... not like from our great restaurants.' -- AP
July 25, 2009
Pound cake from 1969
The Army colonel popped open a military-issued can (left) of pound cake from 1969 at his retirement ceremony, and dug in. -- PHOTO: AP
WASHINGTON - FORTY years later, Henry A. Moak, Jr, still loves his pound cake. The Army colonel popped open a military-issued can of pound cake from 1969 at his retirement ceremony, and dug in.
Col Moak got the drab olive can as a Marine helicopter pilot off the Vietnamese coast in 1973. He vowed to hang on to it until the day he retired, storing it in a box with other mementos.
After a formal retirement ceremony, dozens of friends and relatives joined Col Moak in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes as he opened the can to cheers. Col Moak joked earlier this week that he hoped the can wouldn't explode. It let off a whooshing sound as the pressure seal broke.
'It smells good,' Col Moak said as he put a handful in his mouth. He jokingly staggered back and loudly cleared his throat, while one person yelled out, 'Eeww, gross!' Col Moak pronounced the cake 'good'.
'It's even a little moist,' he said, wiping his mouth. He dared anybody 'gutsy' enough to join him, and retired Lt Gen Paul T. Mikolashek, who was the US Army Europe commander when Col Moak served overseas, took an even bigger piece.
'Tastes just like it always did,' Gen Mikolashek mumbled with a mouthful of cake as Col Moak laughed and clapped.
Col Moak said he wasn't worried about getting sick from any bacteria that may have gotten into the old can, because it looked sealed. But the military discourages eating from old rations.
'Given the risks ... we do everything possible to ensure that overly aged rations are not consumed,' said Lawrence Levine, a spokesman for the Defence Supply Centre in Philadelphia.
Mr Levine named the threats as mold and deadly botulism if the sealing on the food has been broken, which isn't always visible.
Col Moak says though he warned his children over the years not to touch his pound cake, he did let them eat some other rations when they were growing up in the 1980s, including canned spaghetti and crackers.
And how did those taste? 'Fine. Well ... not like from our great restaurants.' -- AP
