History Lesson
01-14-2003, 10:54 AM
#1
DTR'S Chaplain
Thread Starter
History Lesson
I thought I would share<br>some WWII bizarreness for you. You really have to dig to get<br>this kind of ringside seat to history:<br><br>1. The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed<br>by the Japanese (China, 1937), the first American serviceman<br>killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940), the highest<br>ranking American killed was Lt. Gen. Lesley McNair, killed<br>by the US Army Air Corps. So much for allies.<br><br>2. The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham,<br>USN. He was wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for<br>lying about his age. (His benefits were later restored by<br>act of Congress)<br><br>3. At the time of Pearl Harbor the top US Navy command was<br>Called CINCUS (pronounced "sink us"
, the shoulder patch of<br>the US Army's 45th. Infantry division was the Swastika, and<br>Hitler's private train was named "Amerika". All three were<br>soon changed for PR purposes.<br><br>4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine<br>Corps. While completing the required 30 missions your chance<br>of being killed was 71%.<br><br>5. Generally speaking there was no such thing as an average<br>fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For<br>instance Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80<br>planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.<br><br>6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every<br>5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a<br>mistake. Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range)<br>if your tracers were hitting the target 80% of your rounds<br>were missing. Worse yet tracers instantly told your enemy<br>he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was<br>the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of<br>the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was<br>definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units<br>that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly<br>double and their loss rate go down.<br><br> YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE THIS ONE....<br>7. When allied armies reached the Rhine the first thing men<br>did was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest<br>private to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and<br>Gen. Patton (who had himself photographed in the act).<br><br>8. German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York<br>City but it wasn't worth the effort.<br><br>9. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.<br><br>10. Among the first "Germans" captured at Normandy were several<br>Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army<br>until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight<br>for the Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans<br>and forced to fight for the German Army until they were<br>captured by the US Army.<br><br> AND I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST....<br>11. Following a massive naval bombardment 35,000 US and<br>Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska. 21 troops were<br>killed in the firefight. It would have been worse if there<br>had been any Japanese on the island.<br><br>See, history can be fun!<br><br>[move][glow=red, 2, 300]GO NAVY!!!!![/glow][/move]
, the shoulder patch of<br>the US Army's 45th. Infantry division was the Swastika, and<br>Hitler's private train was named "Amerika". All three were<br>soon changed for PR purposes.<br><br>4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine<br>Corps. While completing the required 30 missions your chance<br>of being killed was 71%.<br><br>5. Generally speaking there was no such thing as an average<br>fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For<br>instance Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80<br>planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.<br><br>6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every<br>5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a<br>mistake. Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range)<br>if your tracers were hitting the target 80% of your rounds<br>were missing. Worse yet tracers instantly told your enemy<br>he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was<br>the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of<br>the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was<br>definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units<br>that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly<br>double and their loss rate go down.<br><br> YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE THIS ONE....<br>7. When allied armies reached the Rhine the first thing men<br>did was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest<br>private to Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and<br>Gen. Patton (who had himself photographed in the act).<br><br>8. German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York<br>City but it wasn't worth the effort.<br><br>9. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.<br><br>10. Among the first "Germans" captured at Normandy were several<br>Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army<br>until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight<br>for the Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans<br>and forced to fight for the German Army until they were<br>captured by the US Army.<br><br> AND I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST....<br>11. Following a massive naval bombardment 35,000 US and<br>Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska. 21 troops were<br>killed in the firefight. It would have been worse if there<br>had been any Japanese on the island.<br><br>See, history can be fun!<br><br>[move][glow=red, 2, 300]GO NAVY!!!!![/glow][/move]
01-14-2003, 11:41 AM
#3
Re:History Lesson
This just proves my theory that the Sargents should be calling the battle plans instead of the Generals, after all only they know whats really going on anyway
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