First I would like to wish all my fellow veterans a good day.

I shall forgo my usual post on my unit and experiences as an army veteran….and I would like to look at a piece of invaluable equipment each of us grunts had on our person.

That piece of invaluable equipment was the P-38.

The most well known P-38 is that of the plane flown in WW2…..

No not that….but something that was more useful for the average GI than some fancy plane….

Far down on the list of important inventions essential to victory in World War II is a modest gadget built of stamped metal called the GI Pocket Can Opener—commonly known as the P-38 can opener—which was used by American troops in the field to sever the lids off combat rations. Despite its small stature and relative obscurity, many consider it to be the most perfect tool ever developed by the U.S. Army.

Simple in design, efficient in use, and diverse in application, the P-38 was an ideal complement to the canned meat and bread components contained in C-Rations, a staple of military feeding for more than four decades. The little two-piece hinged device constructed of hardened steel never seemed to break, never lost its edge, and its rugged versatility always provided a quick solution in situations other than its original intent. Soldiers regarded the P-38 as their personal, government-issued Jack-of-all-trades.

“When we had C-Rations, the P-38 was your access to food, making it the hierarchy of needs,” retired Army Colonel Paul Baerman told the Army Times. “Then soldiers discovered it was an extremely simple, lightweight, multipurpose tool. I think in warfare the simpler something is and the easier access it has, the more you’re going to use it. The P-38 had all of those things going for it.”

The official Department of Defense nomenclature for the cutting utensil is Opener, Can, Hand, Folding, Type I, jargon longer in print than its actual 11/2-inch length. Sealed in a paper wrapper to ensure cleanliness and packed inside combat rations, GIs soon realized the small opener with the long-winded title could do much more than open C-Rats. In a pinch it might be used as a screwdriver to help field strip a weapon, cut seams on a uniform, or scrape mess kits clean. To accomplish a mission it could strike flint, measure inches, strip wire, deflate tires, adjust a carburetor, or pick inside a wound. Need a box cutter, marking tool, or decorations on a makeshift Christmas tree? The usefulness of the P-38 seemed boundless, and like many great inventions its origin was humble.

The P38 Can Opener: WWII’s “Other” P-38

In the dark days before MREs….Any veteran older than 40 will remember this utensil with extreme fondness ….as I do.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”