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Tobacco Shortage Makes Marines Irritable
There is a war on, and danger lurks ahead, and the Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry are getting desperate â for tobacco. It's been two weeks since they left they relative luxury of their camp in Kuwait and their supplies of cigarettes and chewing tobacco are running out. They are rationing their precious supplies, and even begging smokes from local farmers. An army, Napoleon reputedly said, marches on its stomach. But for generations, armies have also marched on nicotine. And these Marines - smoking more than usual under the stress of battle conditions - are getting antsy. Cranky, irritable Marines, look out Sammy! It's hard to overestimate the importance of tobacco to the Marines. Cigarettes are smoked at every possible break and the doors of many Humvees are streaked brown from the spurts of tobacco-filled spit that shoot out of the windows every few minutes. Won't see these pictures on your evening news. Tobacco helps relieve boredom, relax or stay awake for long nights, the troops say. While living in their tent camp in Kuwait for nearly two months, the Marines were constantly resupplied with cigarette cartons and rolls of 10 tins of dip mailed by family members or with tobacco they bought themselves at the PX truck. But there are no stores in this desert, though many Marines swear they have huge stores of tobacco in the mail somewhere out there, there's yet to be a mail delivery and there's little hope for one soon. "The Dips in the mail!" With smokers and dippers becoming more desperate, the value of tobacco has exploded. Cpl. Aeron Jackson, 22, of Circleville, Ohio, sold 9 tins of chewing tobacco, for which he paid $4 each, for prices that started at $5 and escalated to $20 as his comrades run out. Now he is almost on empty himself. I see the plot for a GW2 movie. Sgt Bilko, seeing a chance to make a buck, driving a truckload of bootleg smokes across the desert with his crew of wacky sidekicks, gets lost in a sandstorm and winds up in Baghdad. Hilarity ensues as he trys to find his way back with his load of smokes, his team captures Saddam and wins the war. But most Marines, no matter how low their stocks, are sharing what little they have. "As soon as someone gets a can it's pretty much gone in a day," said Kibler. He offered to trade the entire contents of his day pack, except his sleeping bag, for one more tin. "Every time I see somebody light up a cigarette I'm right there: 'What's up, man?'" he said. So far, Marines have not exploded with nicotine rage. But they have become a little more irritable and uncomfortable. "The real test will come when we're up for long hours and no one's got dip or smokes," Kibler said. "If we're up for 30, 36 hours, you'll see people getting real edgy." "Don't make me edgy. You won't like me when I'm edgy!"
Posted by: Steve 2003-04-01 |
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