• psmgx@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Michael Herr in Dispatches, his book about the Vietnam War, relates that a soldier would occasionally ingest C4 from a Claymore mine in order to cause temporary illness so that he would be sent on sick leave.

    Also heard that since it burns, troops in Vietnam would break off small pieces as firestarter or cooking rations, hence the warning about how it burns and makes toxic gases.

    • HikingVet@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      We were told in basic that while flammable it did not go boom when lit in fire, but not to cook steak over it…