You’re 8,000 miles from home. 8,000 miles from your family and friends. 8,000 miles from everything you know. It’s hot and humid. In the distance you hear the sound of a helicopter flying through the jungle-lined valley. As the battle-tested huey helicopter lands you notice something familiar. Something that gets you so excited, that for one slim moment, you forget where you are. In the helicopter, you see cases upon cases of… beer. Yep, beer. For troops stationed all over the world, whether it’s during war or peace, the relaxation and camaraderie that surrounds this delicious beverage is a much needed morale booster.

We were planning a fundraising event with the Veteran’s Plaza over the Memorial Day Weekend and being involved with remembering our fallen soldiers while the Traveling Wall was in Fort Collins. However, since most things were cancelled because of Covid-19, the traveling wall and all other activities that were planned have been postponed. We still wanted to look at the connection that beer has with troops on deployment. A big thank you to The Veteran’s Plaza, as I was able to get some great stories from veteran’s willing to share their stories.

“We humped all over the Central Highlands of VN often, but not often enough, with sometimes six packs of warm, but wet and refreshing and American beer...Carlings Black Label. Nothing like a warm to hot beer to help quench your thirst and remind you of home. Carlings was not necessarily our beer of choice, but our choice was beer.” - Kurt Radtke

“Well, I can think of only one deployment beer story worth mentioning. Given that alcohol was completely prohibited in Iraq to align American military policy with local religious sensitivities, there isn’t much to talk about there. Our battalion lost an Iraqi-American interpreter when he was caught trying to smuggle booze onto the base. He was fired and put on a plane back home. But, that wasn’t really beer.
Second deployment was to Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, Africa. Horrible place. Primarily a counter-piracy mission. Beer was permitted, but it was rationed. We were issued punch cards that permitted a couple beers per day; theoretically enough to take the edge off, but not enough to do damage. However, that meager ration would occasionally get throttled, usually after a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) showed up on base, abused the system, and wrecked something. The most memorable moment came when we learned through the military intelligence folks that Usama bin Laden had his clock punched. We all burned through our rations that night toasting his demise. That was a good night.” *Pic below
- Lee Cooper (US Army 2005-2013)

“Long, long ago, I was deployed to Malaysia to train their commandos. As of most of SE Asia, it was very hot and humid. When we could get into civilization, a cold beer would be on order. Of course, all the bars were either outside seating or indoors without air conditioning. Two choices in beer. Tiger Beer, which we called Tiger Piss (the nickname tells it all), or Anchor. Anchor was the first choice, always. Don't really recall if it was good or not, but it was certainly better than Tiger. The issue was, it was so hot, the cold beer would turn luke warm almost immediately, almost as fast as you sweat it out of your system.” - Diggs Brown

“Mekong Delta...Dong Tam 9th Infantry Mobile Riverine Force Division. When we came in from 9 or 10 days in the jungle. Well it's been too many years ago to remember what kind of beer they had for us. I do remember a fifty gallon barrel sitting in the middle of our hooch. Ready and waiting for us packed with ice cold brews.” - Dan Oppie

As you can tell by some of the stories, beer was, and is, a large part of life for these soldiers. It’s a way to relax, and a way to celebrate. The Gilded Goat partners with the Veteran’s Plaza a few times a year, and our main event is the Rally at the Goat Car Show every year, so keep an eye out for that coming in September. Again, thank you to all the veterans that shared their stories with us.

Beer on Deployment