As war erupted in Europe, the US Army began to take a serious look at what would be necessary to provide emergency rations for its troops should they be drawn into the conflict. In 1937 Captain Paul P. Logan of the US Army Quartermaster Corps made a visit to Hershey to meet with chief chemist Samuel Hinkle. Logan's request was for Hinkle to create a chocolate bar that would be used as a ration for the troops. It would need to have greater nutritional value than traditional chocolate bars but couldn't taste as good so that soldiers would save them for emergencies rather than consume them all at once. It would also need to have a higher melting point to survive the journey to the troops and weigh four ounces. When asked what the bar should taste like Logan replied, "Make it taste about like a boiled potato."
Hinkle achieved this by creating a bar out of oat flour, cocoa fat, skim milk, sugar and coloring. The bar never received marks for taste, with some soldiers declaring them "Hitler's Secret Weapon" for the effect on the soldiers intestinal tract. It was so hard that they had to be cut with a knife for people with poor dentition. Even those with good teeth found it was better to cut than bite.
The bar become the D Ration and would be used throughout the war. Over 40 million of them were made for distribution throughout the conflict. Many of these bars went to the hungry in Europe and our allies until they were discontinued a the end of the war. The tropical version saw a larger distribution and was used into the late '60s.
-Professor Walter
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