Some history from WWII
You might enjoy this from Col. D. G. Swinford, USMC, Ret. and a
history buff. You would really have to dig deep to get this kind
of ringside seat to history:
1. The first German serviceman killed in WW II was killed by the
Japanese (China, 1937), the first American serviceman killed was
killed by the Russians (Finland 1940); highest ranking American
killed was Lt Gen Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps. So
much for allies.
2. The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham,
USN. He was wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying
about his age. His benefits were later restored by act of Congress.
3. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the top US Navy command was called CINCUS (pronounced "sink us"), the shoulder patch of the US Army's 45th Infantry division was the Swastika, and Hitler's private train was named
"Amerika." All three were soon changed for PR purposes!
4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine Corps. While
completing the required 30 missions, your chance of being killed was 71%.
5. Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.
6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a mistake. Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the
target 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet tracers instantly
told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of
all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of
the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped
using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss
rate go down.
7. When allied armies reached the Rhine , the first thing men did
was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private to
Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton (who
had himself photographed in the act).
8. German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York City, but they decided it wasn't worth the effort. (They had 6 bombers that had
the range, the others had to be launched from closer locations.)
9. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.
10. Among the first "Germans" captured at Normandy were several Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army until they were captured by the US Army.
AND THE BEST WAS SAVED FOR LAST....
11. Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 United States and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. 21 troops were killed in the assault on the island. It could have been worse if there had been any Japanese on the island.
You might enjoy this from Col. D. G. Swinford, USMC, Ret. and a
history buff. You would really have to dig deep to get this kind
of ringside seat to history:
1. The first German serviceman killed in WW II was killed by the
Japanese (China, 1937), the first American serviceman killed was
killed by the Russians (Finland 1940); highest ranking American
killed was Lt Gen Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps. So
much for allies.
2. The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham,
USN. He was wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying
about his age. His benefits were later restored by act of Congress.
3. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the top US Navy command was called CINCUS (pronounced "sink us"), the shoulder patch of the US Army's 45th Infantry division was the Swastika, and Hitler's private train was named
"Amerika." All three were soon changed for PR purposes!
4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine Corps. While
completing the required 30 missions, your chance of being killed was 71%.
5. Generally speaking, there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance, Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.
6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a mistake. Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the
target 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet tracers instantly
told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of
all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of
the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped
using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss
rate go down.
7. When allied armies reached the Rhine , the first thing men did
was pee in it. This was pretty universal from the lowest private to
Winston Churchill (who made a big show of it) and Gen. Patton (who
had himself photographed in the act).
8. German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York City, but they decided it wasn't worth the effort. (They had 6 bombers that had
the range, the others had to be launched from closer locations.)
9. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.
10. Among the first "Germans" captured at Normandy were several Koreans. They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army until they were captured by the US Army.
AND THE BEST WAS SAVED FOR LAST....
11. Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 United States and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. 21 troops were killed in the assault on the island. It could have been worse if there had been any Japanese on the island.
.