So, tonight I was having dinner at my favorite Chinese Buffet, and I happened to get seated close to a group of elderly folks, men & women. The whole group of them was around 25 people or so, ranging in age from mid to late 70’s to early 90’s. Note, it’s amazing just how good the sushi is at this Chinese Buffet, compared to my favorite Sushi Bar.
It got me to thinking about food as it relates to different periods in our history, and the veterans of each era (that are still alive today). As an example, one of the gentlemen, sitting close to me looked old enough to be from the WW2 Era. He was, at 96 years old. If he had fought the Germans in Europe, 
he potentially brought home a French bride, or most likely, if he did, a British bride. If he didn’t bring home a “War Bride” because he was already married to a gal in the US, he most certainly brought home the love for French cooking, English cooking, not so much. If he fought in the Pacific (ordinary GI Joe), there wasn’t a whole lot of choice sitting on a remote island like Iwo Jima. At any rate, after World War Two, American Cuisine began to add recipes from Europe, very little from the Pacific Campaign. It took some Red Tape and time, if you were in Europe, but it was fairly a simple process to bring a War Bride home.
Now, the veterans of the Korean War, they had to suck it up and eat Kimchi. If they were officer rank, and was fortunate enough to R & R in Japan, I assume they fell in love with Japanese Cuisine, especially Sushi. 
Yes, many of our troops brought home Japanese and South Korean War Brides. The cuisine came with them as well.
Fast forward now to the Vietnam War. Japanese, and Philippine women & cuisine (Subic Bay was where the US Hospital Ships were). If you were an officer, more than likely, married or not, you were able to take R & R in Hawaii. Many GI Joes also left their sperm there (in South Vietnam and the Philippines), resulting in many half-breed children which are now adults. 
Some of the most beautiful women in the world are half-Vietnamese and half-white or black. It’s really a fucking shame that in most cases, the GI Joe was either killed in action, or returned to the USA without a clue, totally unaware that they had knocked up their “Sucky-Fucky-Two Bucky” girlfriends. Of course, I can understand that if they were wearing a “Raincoat” and an “accident” happened, but if not, give me a break, they knew what they were doing, and chances are they knew their little bạn gái or “boom-boom girl” was pregnant before shipping out for the states as a REFRAD. If you were a GI Joe versus an officer, you brought home a hell of a lot more Venereal Disease ) VD). Almost forgot about the food. Sushi (Japanese) and Kare-Kare (Filipino).
Both Gulf Wars (some continuing). Very few GI Joes have brought home a War Bride from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. Maybe a few from there R & R, wherever that may be. So, I can’t really talk about the cultural cuisine coming here to the USA. I’m sure there have been a few War Brides from the Middle East, so here’s a plate of Middle Eastern food.
A few things in conclusion: It doesn’t matter what race(s), culture(s) or religion(s) you are made of. If you happen to be of a mixed culture, as a gift from some GI Joe, wither you know who your father is or not, LOVE your heritage (both of them). Be PROUD of your ancestry (both of them). For all the still living GI Joes, wither you know your child, or have never had contact with your child or (children in some cases), LOVE them. Think about them. I happen to LOVE sushi.
Postscript: Amazing how I can be inspired from a simple thing like having dinner at my local Chinese Buffet.
Postscript2: Quick Quiz. Can you guess which Era I;m from? Which war? First person to “comment” back with the correct answer gets to smoke a bowl with me sometime.
Peace & Abide,
Dr. T. C. Saxe, DD
Strain: REALLYBADFUBAR, harvested December 25th, 1967
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