Did You Know??? Military Factoids - Page 2




 
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February 27th, 2004  
I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S
 
Here is a few more since it has been a while since i have posted any


The US has 247,000 troops and civilians posted overseas, with a presence in more than 130 countries, covering every time zone. The US has 13 military bases in countries around Afghanistan. It has military presence in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan and Georgia, all former Soviet countries.



The most costly war on record in terms of human life was World War II (1939 -1945). The total number of fatalities of all countries is estimated to have been 54,800,000. Poland was the country that suffered most with 6,028,000 of her population of 35,100,000 killed.

Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate Army, remains the only person, to date, to have graduated from the West Point military academy without a single demerit.

Armored knights in medieval times raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.

The Japanese confiscated chess books during World War II thinking they were military codes. Japan did not have an organized chess federation until 1968.
February 27th, 2004  
GuyontheRight
 
My personal favorite: The German submarine U-1206 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.
February 27th, 2004  
I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S
 
That one was probably one of my favorite too...
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February 27th, 2004  
FutureRANGER
 
 
Those are great.

My favorite - A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I.
March 1st, 2004  
I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S
 
Todays list:

Since World War II, American soldiers have been issued gum with their K rations and survival kits. During World War II, gum, considered an emergency ration, was also given to soldiers to relieve tension and dry throats on long marches. G.I.s used chewed gum to patch jeep tires, gas tanks, life rafts, and parts of airplanes. Wrigley advertisements recommended five sticks of gum per day for every war worker, insisting that "Factory tests show how chewing gum helps men feel better, work better."

During World War II, a German U-boat was sunk by a truck. The U-boat in question attacked a convoy in the Atlantic and then rose to see the effect. The merchant ship it sank had material strapped to its deck including a fleet of trucks, one of which was thrown in the air by the explosion, landing on the U-boat and breaking its back.


In 1839, the Canadian province of New Brunswick fought a bloodless border war with Maine.

The most decorated unit in US military history was formed primarily by enlistees from the U.S. internment camps for Japanese Americans.

During the Vietnam War, soldiers used Slinkies as radio antennas by stretching the coiled-up toys between two trees.


A colonel in the Ivory Coast army was fatally wounded by gunfire as he tested a "magic" belt supposedly with powers to protect him from bullets. Colonel Pascal Gbah, 49, died after being hit by a bullet fired from his own service pistol by a 20-year-old son of the magic belt's maker. Gbah's cousin Andre Gondo made the belt as insisting that its protective powers were real, provided one abstained from sex while wearing it.


British Royal Navy recruits at the gunnery school in Plymouth are being ordered not to fire live shells. Instead they have been instructed to check co-ordinates, line up a target, and then shout "Bang". This is allegedly part of a drive by the Ministry of Defense drive to save money.


The Americans keep their weapons of mass destruction much more secure. So secure that one Bryan Hopkins, a former marine, was able to board the aircraft carrier USS Constellation using an old ID card, and a uniform he found in a rubbish bin. And spent several weeks on board without being discovered. He didn't bother hiding (in the way that, say, an illicit stowaway on a passenger liner might need to), he just ate, used the gym and bunked down with the regular crew. The deception was only discovered after someone phoned the Navy office to tip them off.

Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 U.S. and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. Twenty-one troops were killed in the firefight. It would have been worse if there had been any Japanese soldiers on the island.
March 1st, 2004  
I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S
 
all that i have are now posted. i will post around one a day from now on...
November 20th, 2004  
Ed
 
Quote:
During WWII, Americans tried to train bats to drop bombs. They failed.
hahaha
November 20th, 2004  
Damien
 
the best:
Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 U.S. and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. Twenty-one troops were killed in the firefight. It would have been worse if there had been any Japanese soldiers on the island.
November 21st, 2004  
Locke
 
 
sucks to be them
November 21st, 2004  
A Can of Man
 
 
This sort of stuff is just heart breaking.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MunitionsAirman
In 1941, during the German invasion of Russia, for every 100 Russian males aged 18, 99 would have been killed over the next five years.