Military Trivia (UNCLASSIFIED)

SOME ARE UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....................

 You'll 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 WW2 was
killed by the Japanese (China, 1937), the first
American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians
(Finland1940); 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
United States and Canadian troops stormed ashore at
Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. 21 troops were killed
in the firefight. It would have been worse if there
had been any Japanese on the island.