[BITList] Some World War II facts

[franka]

not checked for authenticity
frank


*You might enjoy this from Col D. G. Swinford, USMC, Ret and 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.*

*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 
they decided 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 THE BEST 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.*

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