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Received these attached to an email...absolutely no effort to verify....

 

"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). 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 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. Talk about Recycling.

 

 

 

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 assault on the island. It could have been worse if there had been any Japanese on the island!

 

 

LL

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Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. was also a Lt. General killed in WWII. I suppose that date of rank would reveal who was senior.

 

General McNair's son was my last CO in Viet Nam. He was a good leader and commanded the unit during the Tet offensive with minimum casualties while causing the enemy a lot of grief. I understand that he retired as a

Major General.

 

Duffield

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Ft. McNair in DC is named after Gen. McNair. It's on the Potomac a bit below Maine Ave., just across from the Naval Air Station where the President's Marine helicopters are based. I believe he was the highest ranking officer we had killed in WWII. It's on the site of the old Federal Prison where the Lincoln conspirators were hung and buried. The officer's club has a large photograph of the execution on the wall in the copper top bar downstairs.

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In reference to the 45th ID:

The division's original shoulder sleeve insignia featured a right-facing swastika, a common Native American symbol, as a tribute to the south-western United States region which had a large population of Native Americans. However, with the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, with its famous right-facing swastika symbol, the 45th Division stopped using the insignia. A new shoulder sleeve insignia featuring the Thunderbird, another Native American symbol, was approved in 1939.(Wikipedia)

The patch

 

I can tell you that, at least as recently as the late 1990's, the navy still was using "CINCUS". For example, CINCUSNAVEUR was the acronym for Commander-in-chief, US Naval Forces Europe.

 

And here is an article about the Me-264.

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According to a wikipedia article the U-120 was scuttled. The article says U-120 often incorrectly reported sunk by malfunctioning toilet.

 

As for the "swastika" keep in mind that it has long been a symbol used by Native American Indian tribes, Navajo.

There is a similar symbol connected to Hindu as well as other places.

Not unique to Hitler's Germany.

The 45th Infantry Division was part of the Oklahoma National Guard which may explain the swastika.

 

I wonder how the korean's were captured from the Japanese. The Russians were not a war with japan until 8 August 1945 when they attacked japanese troops in manchuria.

 

According to this article there were 2 other Lt Generals that were killed.

Frank Maxwell Andrews being the other one not already mentioned.

Again date of rank would determine who would be senior.

Wikipedia Lt General Lesley J. McNair

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Here's the deal with Kiska.

American and Canadian troops fired on each other in the thick fog on Kiska. It's understandable. The troops were nervous after the battle on Attu. The Japanese fought ferociously on Attu. The Americans suffered over 1,600 kia and wia. The Japanese had over 2,000 kia. Pfc Joe P. Martinez was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Attu.

The Japanese withdrew from Kiska before it was assaulted. In the thick fog of the islands the American commanders didn't know Kiska had been abandoned and assumed another tough fight was in the offing.

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Received these attached to an email...absolutely no effort to verify....

 

"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:

 

The highest ranking American killed was Lt Gen Lesley McNair -killed by the US Army Air Corps. So much for allies.

 

 

LL

 

 

Hey, I can understand that one as when I was in RVN, them Air Force Zoomies dumped quite a bit of ordinance on me too....

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