VETERANS HISTORY
1951 MICKEY MOUSE BOOT
The air tight boot came,
with a patching kit in case a piece of shrapnel would cut into it,
in
1951 to the Marines in the
1st Marine Division stationed in Korea. It was, 'boot,
combat,
rubber, insulated' but
called by all, 'the Mickey Mouse Boot', because the oversized
shape and black color
gave the looks of Hollywood's Mickey Mouse comic character's
shoes. They soon proved
valuable in preventing frozen feet, and whatever 'you' called them
mattered not. It was not
a long distant marching boot but no one did much marching in the
inclement weather.
The concept was that body
heat from the feet were stored as a vapor barrier between two
layers of felt lined
rubber , keeping cold moisture outside, away from the Marine's
feet
.
The wearer needed to change
socks and dry his feet often to prevent frostbite.
The Mickey Mouse boots came
to Korea in 1951 to 1952 and frozen feet cases dropped .
Abstract: By Harrison H,
January- February, 2019 , The Graybeards Magazine.
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