Skipper, Falcon,

Brass turns green, steel turns orange, leather and canvas grow white fungus/mold, paper gets damp and mildews.

Falcon, once in a while there might be a dud round for one reason or another. The most troublesome weapons were the carbines, failing to feed. There was no time or place to fully field strip and clean a weapon up on the line, as you would see in a rear area, on a bunk or on the deck of a transport at sea. You would fiddle with it as best you could on a daily basis, keeping mud and grit out of it, but it was kept loaded and at the ready.

Skipper, the toothbrush was intended primarily for your weapon, and that sorry little bar of soap was your toothpaste, after a while one gets accustomed to the taste of rifle grease and gunpowder. Soap was useful to disinfect wounds, bug bites, and cuts, many times it was the only thing to put on a wound prior to a dressing, dry soap was useful as a lubricant for weapon bolts, when nothing else was available. 45 mags had a blued finish and rusted very quickly if wet from salt water, a bit of soap would protect them, and make them slip in and drop out quickly. It also kept a clean sharp slippery edge on blades.

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All the Best
Jack