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| Europe | |
| German Brewery Donates Beer To American Soldiers | |
| 2003-09-06 | |
| The Germans didn't back the U.S. war in Iraq, but a German brewery is treating American sailors and soldiers to beer. Munich-based Spaten, one of the world's oldest breweries, is donating 600 cases of lager to each branch of the U.S. military for personnel who fought in the war. Navy Capt. Terry McKnight, commanding officer of the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge, said Wednesday that his sailors would have no qualms about drinking brew from a country that refused to join coalition forces in the invasion of Iraq. "A cold beer is a cold beer," McKnight said. Donald C. Bennett, a selectee for chief petty officer who came to a Norfolk Naval Station loading dock to claim four cases for his crew on the submarine Montpelier, agreed: "We're happy to drink it all." However, there is one small problem that Louis Sieb, president of Spaten North America, did not consider when he came up with the idea. The average sailor is 20. Legal drinking age is 21. "They give up everything, right? They put their lives on the line, right? And they can't drink beer? Still, a good thing, I think," Sieb said.
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| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #9 Yep,if I' old enough to die for my country I'm old enough to have a beer.When I was in the Army EM clubs served 3.2 beer(bloated before loaded). In Korea I could get all the booze I wanted in the vill. OB beer ok. Jin Roe taste like rubbing alcohol,poor off first 1" or you ight go blind. Machali(barley wine)look like mud,tasted terrible.But a couple of tea pots and you had a nice buzz going. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-9-7 8:20:55 AM |
| #8 In Bavaria beer is not classified as an alcoholic beverage but as a "basic food"! Enjoy your "Oktoberfest" in Iraq! |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-6 9:30:04 PM |
| #7 Never liked the "old enough to die but not old enough for a frosty one" mentality. Still there are probably many fewer closed casket funerals of young privates. airmen and sailors. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-6 7:58:31 PM |
| #6 Next time I go shopping at the local imported adult beverage shop, I'm gonna look for some Spaten products. |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-9-6 7:35:59 PM |
| #5 Actually Reagan scaled back the use of booze by the military. It made the base the same drinking age as the state. Not everybody thought this was a good idea. When I was on temporary duty to George AFB CA a Captain bought me all the beer I needed. I was 20 at the time. They really started to crack down on DUI/DWI and such about the mid-late 80s. About the same time the locals started to get tough. I never liked the rule but I never 'directly' provided beer to any minor in uniform. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2003-9-6 4:17:56 PM |
| #4 The green active duty card ceased to be a free pass for underage drinking during the Clinton years. Must have changed a law related to "inter-state commerce" and threatened to without highway funds. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-6 2:00:53 PM |
| #3 "Sorry, son, that beer is too dangerous for you. Here, take this M-16 instead." |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-9-6 1:41:20 PM |
| #2 Back in '72, as long as you had military ID, cops in Oklahoma didn't mess with you if you were drinking. How times have changed. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-9-6 12:56:44 PM |
| #1 "Legal drinking age is 21." Well, sorta kinda... It's a long time since I was in, but on-base Enlisted and NCO clubs could serve beer to 18-year-olds. |
| Posted by: John Anderson 2003-9-6 12:37:55 PM |