Interesting facts about WW II

[1CAVCCO15MED]

> 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 friendly fire.
>
> 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
> car 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 at long range so 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
> Hitler 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 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.