'I survived on ramen under Obama': Double-amputee Marine veteran blasts USS Lincoln food row

WASHINGTON, DC: Marine veteran Joey Jones did not have much patience for complaints about food aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. 

The Fox News contributor, who lost both legs while serving in Afghanistan, reacted forcefully on Saturday, August 15, after hearing a sailor describe the meals and conditions aboard the aircraft carrier, arguing that the complaints were difficult to reconcile with what service members have endured during combat deployments. 

Jones contrasted the sailor’s experience at sea with his own time surviving on basic food in Afghanistan.

Joey Jones slams complaints by sailors

Jones made his feelings unmistakably clear during Saturday’s edition of 'The Big Weekend Show' on Fox News, where the discussion turned to complaints coming from sailors aboard the Lincoln.

After hearing a crew member complain about the food being served, Jones appeared visibly frustrated and launched into a comparison with his own deployment experience.

The veteran recalled eating ramen noodles for months while deployed in Afghanistan.

“You know what I ate in Afghanistan for six months on a burner?” Jones said. “I ate ramen noodles.”

He explained that he would remove the seasoning packet because of its sodium content and add tuna packets instead.

That memory shaped Jones’ reaction to complaints about meals aboard the Lincoln.

“If you’re sitting there saying it was terrible because you had a corn dog and a hot dog,” Jones said, “I would have traded a block of explosives to the T*****n for a hot dog about July 2010.”

Jones’ frustration was not limited to the food itself.

He argued that sailors serving aboard a heavily equipped aircraft carrier should distinguish between legitimate problems involving health and safety and dissatisfaction with ordinary meals.

He then added a personal qualification that made the comparison even more striking.

“I didn’t get to take a shower for about six months, but still,” Jones said, emphasizing that hygiene and basic necessities would be a different matter.

He recalled that during earlier deployments under former President Barack Obama, he spent extended periods at patrol bases in Iraq and Afghanistan while eating Meals Ready-to-Eat, commonly known as MREs.

Joey Jones' Afghanistan deployment

Jones' reaction carries particular weight because his own military career was marked by one of the most devastating injuries a service member can suffer.

He served eight years in the US Marine Corps, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2010, while working as an explosive ordnance disposal technician in Afghanistan, Jones stepped on an improvised explosive device.

The blast resulted in the loss of both his legs above the knee and caused severe injuries to his right forearm and wrists.

He was medically retired from the Marine Corps in 2012 before later returning to uniform with the Marine Corps Reserve.

Jones has repeatedly spoken publicly about his combat experiences, and his response to the Lincoln controversy was rooted heavily in that perspective.