Karenluvs6
12-02-2000, 06:26 AM
I thought I would share some WWII bizarreness with you. You really have to dig to get this kind of ringside seat to history....
1. The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed
by the Japanese (China, 1937), the first American serviceman
killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940), the 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.
YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE THIS ONE....
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 it wasn't worth the effort.
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 I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST....
11. Following a massive naval bombardment 35,000 US and
Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska. 21 troops were
killed in the firefight. It would have been worse if there
had been any Japanese on the island.
See, history can be fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
Bizarre Military Mishaps
Two U.S. Air Force F-15s shoot down two U.S. Army helicopters
on a diplomatic mission over Iraq, mistaking them for hostile
aircraft in the "no-fly zone," killing 26 people. No one was
found criminally responsible.
A "siesta" ordered by Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna to his troops during a conflict between the Mexicans and
Texans caused the infantry to be overtaken in just 18 minutes.
Fort Douaumont at Verdun in France was captured in 1916 by
a single German soldier after French General Chretien forgot
to pass on orders to defend the fort to the last man to his
successor.
The Russians tried to wreak havoc on German Panzer divisions
during the WWII by strapping bombs to the backs of dogs and
teaching them to associate food with the underneath of their
enemies' tanks. Unfortunately, the dogs only associated food
with their own tanks and forced an entire Soviet division to
retreat.
Japanese soldier Hiroo Onodo refused to stop fighting long
after WWII was over, claiming that stories of the war's
ending were mere propaganda. It wasn't until his commanding
officer flew out to the remote Pacific island where Onoda was
holed up and ordered him to lay down his arms that he finally
complied.
Probably the most famous mistake in U.S. military history
occurred in the Civil War, when Confederate Gen. Stonewall
Jackson was mistakenly shot by one of his own troops after
the Confederate triumph at Chancellorsville.
------------------------------------------------------------
HAMPTON, Virginia - A mother in Virginia was squawking mad
after finding a fried chicken head in an order of chicken
wings from McDonalds. Katherine Ortega was putting what she
thought was going to be chicken wings on plates for her two
children when she noticed that one of the pieces had eyes
and a beak. Ortega called the McDonald's on Warwick near
Hickory Point Boulevard where she purchased the dinner and
told the restaurant manager about the peculiar piece of
poultry in her possession. She was told to bring it back to
the restaurant where she would be refunded with another box
of chicken wings. Ortega respectively declined saying she no
longer had a taste for chicken and has reportedly contacted
the FDA for advice on how to handle the incident.
------------------------------------------------------------
MADRID, Spain Corpulent would be thief, Pedro Cardona
attempted to enter a house to ply his trade by "squeezing"
through a doggie door. It was a lot like putting two pounds
of bologna in a one pound bag as Cardona became wedged
halfway through. Rescuers were forced to chop the door down
with axes to free the thief
------------------------------------------------------------
DENVER, Colorado - A brilliant parolee put herself back on
the hot seat after posing naked for websites wearing only
an electronic ankle monitoring bracelet and brandishing guns.
The nude photographs led authorities to search 32-year-old's
Katica Crippen's home in Denver, Colorado where they found
seven firearms. Crippen, who had been on parole for 1997
convictions in Colorado Springs for selling drugs and theft,
now faces additional charges of parole violation and felony
firearm possession
------------------------------------------------------------
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut - It could be considered the world's
most expensive pedicure. Podiatrist Andrew Anastasio of West
Haven pleaded guilty to charges of fraud after he billed
Medicare for toenail clippings. Anastasio submitted bills to
Medicare that indicated he had performed nail avulsions, a
surgical procedure which involves the partial or total removal
of toenails, when all he really did was clip the toenails of
his patients. The 71-year-old podiatrist faces up to five
years in federal prison, has forfeited his office, and has
agreed to pay $986,801 to settle federal civil fraud claims
------------------------------------------------------------
The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, may be dead but
his image lives on. A recent study has shown that since the
King's death the number of Elvis has risen from 150 people
to a hip-thrusting 85,000. Officials predict that if the
numbers continue to rise at the same rate, that impersonators
could make up as much as one third of the world's population
by the year 2019. According to "Chinese Elvis" Paul Hyu, "If
I'm going to have all this competition in the future, maybe
I should branch out and do Alvin Stardust impressions instead.
He's an untouched goldmine."
------------------------------------------------------------
SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines - Some people will do anything
to move closer to God. Bus driver Chito Sangalang had a
unique idea. On Good Friday, he dressed up like Jesus and
performed a special penance ritual. He had people nail him
to a cross. After several minutes, Sangalang was rushed to
a local hospital to attend to his newly created stigmata.
------------------------------------------------------------
{twilight zone music}.....Have a great day gang!
1. The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed
by the Japanese (China, 1937), the first American serviceman
killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940), the 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.
YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE THIS ONE....
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 it wasn't worth the effort.
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 I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST....
11. Following a massive naval bombardment 35,000 US and
Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska. 21 troops were
killed in the firefight. It would have been worse if there
had been any Japanese on the island.
See, history can be fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
Bizarre Military Mishaps
Two U.S. Air Force F-15s shoot down two U.S. Army helicopters
on a diplomatic mission over Iraq, mistaking them for hostile
aircraft in the "no-fly zone," killing 26 people. No one was
found criminally responsible.
A "siesta" ordered by Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna to his troops during a conflict between the Mexicans and
Texans caused the infantry to be overtaken in just 18 minutes.
Fort Douaumont at Verdun in France was captured in 1916 by
a single German soldier after French General Chretien forgot
to pass on orders to defend the fort to the last man to his
successor.
The Russians tried to wreak havoc on German Panzer divisions
during the WWII by strapping bombs to the backs of dogs and
teaching them to associate food with the underneath of their
enemies' tanks. Unfortunately, the dogs only associated food
with their own tanks and forced an entire Soviet division to
retreat.
Japanese soldier Hiroo Onodo refused to stop fighting long
after WWII was over, claiming that stories of the war's
ending were mere propaganda. It wasn't until his commanding
officer flew out to the remote Pacific island where Onoda was
holed up and ordered him to lay down his arms that he finally
complied.
Probably the most famous mistake in U.S. military history
occurred in the Civil War, when Confederate Gen. Stonewall
Jackson was mistakenly shot by one of his own troops after
the Confederate triumph at Chancellorsville.
------------------------------------------------------------
HAMPTON, Virginia - A mother in Virginia was squawking mad
after finding a fried chicken head in an order of chicken
wings from McDonalds. Katherine Ortega was putting what she
thought was going to be chicken wings on plates for her two
children when she noticed that one of the pieces had eyes
and a beak. Ortega called the McDonald's on Warwick near
Hickory Point Boulevard where she purchased the dinner and
told the restaurant manager about the peculiar piece of
poultry in her possession. She was told to bring it back to
the restaurant where she would be refunded with another box
of chicken wings. Ortega respectively declined saying she no
longer had a taste for chicken and has reportedly contacted
the FDA for advice on how to handle the incident.
------------------------------------------------------------
MADRID, Spain Corpulent would be thief, Pedro Cardona
attempted to enter a house to ply his trade by "squeezing"
through a doggie door. It was a lot like putting two pounds
of bologna in a one pound bag as Cardona became wedged
halfway through. Rescuers were forced to chop the door down
with axes to free the thief
------------------------------------------------------------
DENVER, Colorado - A brilliant parolee put herself back on
the hot seat after posing naked for websites wearing only
an electronic ankle monitoring bracelet and brandishing guns.
The nude photographs led authorities to search 32-year-old's
Katica Crippen's home in Denver, Colorado where they found
seven firearms. Crippen, who had been on parole for 1997
convictions in Colorado Springs for selling drugs and theft,
now faces additional charges of parole violation and felony
firearm possession
------------------------------------------------------------
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut - It could be considered the world's
most expensive pedicure. Podiatrist Andrew Anastasio of West
Haven pleaded guilty to charges of fraud after he billed
Medicare for toenail clippings. Anastasio submitted bills to
Medicare that indicated he had performed nail avulsions, a
surgical procedure which involves the partial or total removal
of toenails, when all he really did was clip the toenails of
his patients. The 71-year-old podiatrist faces up to five
years in federal prison, has forfeited his office, and has
agreed to pay $986,801 to settle federal civil fraud claims
------------------------------------------------------------
The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, may be dead but
his image lives on. A recent study has shown that since the
King's death the number of Elvis has risen from 150 people
to a hip-thrusting 85,000. Officials predict that if the
numbers continue to rise at the same rate, that impersonators
could make up as much as one third of the world's population
by the year 2019. According to "Chinese Elvis" Paul Hyu, "If
I'm going to have all this competition in the future, maybe
I should branch out and do Alvin Stardust impressions instead.
He's an untouched goldmine."
------------------------------------------------------------
SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines - Some people will do anything
to move closer to God. Bus driver Chito Sangalang had a
unique idea. On Good Friday, he dressed up like Jesus and
performed a special penance ritual. He had people nail him
to a cross. After several minutes, Sangalang was rushed to
a local hospital to attend to his newly created stigmata.
------------------------------------------------------------
{twilight zone music}.....Have a great day gang!