Talk about the ultimate take-out delivery!

Not even those irrepressible TV Army surgeons Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre could have pulled off a wartime food delivery to their MASH unit like the one being sent to Iraq from Fort Smith.

Sometime this month, hopefully by Super Bowl Sunday, a whole bunch of U.S. troops stationed in Iraq will be enjoying TWO TONS of tasty barbecued ribs, courtesy of the Fort Smith Barbecue Society.

Fort Smith Barbecue Society member Jennifer Brewer says she didn’t get the idea for this super sized rib delivery from watching old MASH episodes, even though there is one that has Hawkeye calling in an order to a Chicago rib joint and having it choppered in to his Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit in South Korea. Jennifer says she was just inspired by a little “blurb” she read about a California barbecue society cooking and shipping a thousand pounds of ribs to U.S. troops in Iraq.

“Back in October she just kind of popped up with the idea of us sending ribs to members of the Arkansas National Guard’s 39th Brigade Combat Team in Taji, Iraq, and it just took off from there,” Fort Smith Barbecue Society co-founder Brian Barham recalled.

“We decided we could show our support for the men and women from Arkansas and Oklahoma, and those from all over the United States bravely serving our country in Operation Iraqi Freedom, by trying to get some ribs to them by Super Bowl Sunday,” Barham added. “So, we started putting the word out, raising money and figuring out logistically how many pounds we could actually prepare and send. If we could have sent enough for every one of our soldiers over there, we would have done it.”

By December the group had raised $11,500 – enough to buy 1,600 racks of ribs with a little money left over for a welcome home party they’re planning to host for the 39th when the unit gets to come back home this year.

At 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 8, a bone-chilling, blustery day, 22 teams of about 70 barbecue cooks from all over the Fort Smith area, plus a few from Hot Springs and Kansas City, gathered at Columbus acres with a small platoon of cooking rigs in tow. Normally fierce competitors at barbecue contests, this time the cooks worked as one team to produce the most barbecue any of them had ever prepared in a single day.

Several area businesses contributed goods and services for the project. Russ Bragg, chairman of packaging and shipping at OK Foods brought the packing expertise, supplies and refrigerator truck that were absolutely key to making the shipping of the ribs possible, Barham said. The dry rub spices used on the ribs were provided by a Ponca City, Okla., business. Hiram Walker’s Fort Smith plant donated the Makers Mark and Canadian Club barbecue sauces that will be served with the ribs.

The Fort Smith Burger Kings fed all the cooks breakfast sandwiches in the morning and burgers at noon. Supper would have been furnished, too, but the teams finished all the ribs in time to make their own dinner plans.

Just before dark, the last batch of ribs off the smokers was wrapped, packed and loaded onto the refrigerator truck with all the rest to be transported to Zero Mountain Inc. cold storage facilities. There the ribs were blast-frozen and stored free of charge pending their delivery to Iraq.

The first scheduled transport to the 39th members stationed at Camp Taji was canceled late last month due to transportation delays and glitches. Now the ribs will likely have to be sent to troops in other units.

“We were hoping the ribs could go to the 39th, but I’m sure all of us who worked on this project will be happy for any of our troops in Iraq to be able to enjoy the ribs we cooked, regardless of what state they’re from,” Barham said. “I know we all felt good about the project when we were done.”

And how important might a little taste of “home” be to a U.S. soldier in Iraq right about now? Ask any veteran you know that question. But I think you already know the answer.

At the end of the M*A*S*H episode mentioned above, when Hawkeye and Trapper finally get a chance to eat the ribs they’ve finagled out of Chicago, Trapper asks Hawkeye, “Should we say grace?”

“Praise the Lord!,” Hawkeye responds, “and pass the sauce.”

 

Linda Seubold, editor of Entertainment Fort Smith Magazine, can be reached at lindaseubold@efortsmith.com. Read her archived columns and articles online.

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