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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Honolulu Dick, post: 970204, member: 24745&quot;]Spectacular!&nbsp; Absolutely spectacular!!!</p><p><br /></p><p>It makes me cry when I recall all of those beauties that slipped through my fingers and I didn&#039;t save enough to make a complete set.&nbsp; We cursed what everyone called get-out-of-jail money or funny money.&nbsp; It never seemed &quot;real&quot; enough to us to have serious value and no one considered that it would have value in the future.&nbsp; To us, the future was to survive Nam and returning home to the &quot;real&quot; world where we could earn and spend &quot;real&quot; money.</p><p><br /></p><p>As fate would have it, I was in the Mekong Delta when Series 681 was issued - 11AUG69.&nbsp; The unannounced change from Series 661 to 681 caught all by surprise and panic ensued.&nbsp; You had 24-hours to change your MPCs and were limited to $1,000.00. per person.&nbsp; There were many poker players who held sizable winnings and they lost their fortunes overnight.&nbsp; Some took to heavy drinking to drown their sorrows and became so unreliable that they placed others in danger as well as themselves.&nbsp; Since we slept with our weapons and kept a round chambered, no one trusted a drunk ---&nbsp; alcohol and gunpowder don&#039;t mix.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Uncontrollable panic took place among the local nationals.&nbsp; Many had accepted and hoarded MPC as it didn&#039;t devalue as rapidly as the Vietnamese money did in an inflationary prone, wartime economy.&nbsp; As a result, those who could no longer meet their obligations started showing-up in the streets at room temperature.&nbsp; To prevent our GIs from being torn apart by angry crowds, they were restricted to their fortified US bases.&nbsp; Once things returned to what seemed like normal, the GIs were turned loose and their free-spending ways fueled the start of another inflationary cycle.</p><p><br /></p><p>If memory serves correctly, PX prices were:</p><p>$2.00 for a carton of smokes.</p><p>$2.00 for a quart of the &quot;hard stuff&quot;.</p><p>75-cents for a haircut.&nbsp; </p><p>At a club - 25-cents for a can of beer&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 35-cents for a mixed drink</p><p><br /></p><p>The clubs had ice, so it was a treat to drink cold ones while watching the movies they played nightly.&nbsp; The Army used choppers to airlift pallets of beer to us when on overnight operations in contested territory.&nbsp; We were limited to two cans each and drank it warm.&nbsp; Those who were freshly wounded could have a third can, as long as they didn&#039;t have a serious chest and/or were gut wounded --- all they were allowed were IV drips.&nbsp; The issued beer was free, lifted our morale [someone cared] and tasted great, back then.&nbsp; Today, whenever I&#039;m asked what&#039;s my favorite beer, I always answer &quot;COLD- kine!&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Just sharing a few memories that were gained from having used MPCs while in-country.&nbsp; Experienced using Series 641, 661 and 681.&nbsp; I stupidly didn&#039;t save enough of any of them.&nbsp; &quot;So soon we get old and so late we get smart.&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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