Anyone have anything random but interesting?

For example:
-The seven uniformed services obviously include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, but also includes the US Public Health Service and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

-The Army has more water craft than the Navy and the Navy has more planes than the Air Force (not actually sure this is true)

Supposedly all Purple Hearts awarded since the end of WWII are the ones made in preparation for the anticipated invasion of Japan and the immense casualties expected.

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Anyone have anything random but interesting?

For example:
-The seven uniformed services obviously include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, but also includes the US Public Health Service and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

-The Army has more water craft than the Navy and the Navy has more planes than the Air Force (not actually sure this is true)

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The Navy doesn't have more aircraft than the Air Force, but the Army has more aircraft than the Navy.

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Supposedly all Purple Hearts awarded since the end of WWII are the ones made in preparation for the anticipated invasion of Japan and the immense casualties expected.

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Very interesting, if true. Dropping the atom bombs was, by far, a net positive for the preservation of human life given the alternative of invading Japan.

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Supposedly all Purple Hearts awarded since the end of WWII are the ones made in preparation for the anticipated invasion of Japan and the immense casualties expected.

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I don't believe that is true today but was true up through the short in Grenada and the covert actions in central America in the 1980s. There's probably some contracting data on the procurement of Purple Hearts (and a design spec for the medal) that would shed light on that.

In the early days of aircraft carriers, bugle calls were still used to set conditions on ship. The bugle call to announce flight quarters was "Boots and Saddles"

The Navy line office star is upside down and Noone knows why.

The YC-130 made it's first flight in 1954. The C-130 is still in production, 61 years later, making it the longest running military aircraft production line in history.

More artillery shells were fired in Korea than in the Pacific and Mediterranean/North Africa AOs combined in WWII.

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More artillery shells were fired in Korea than in the Pacific and Mediterranean/North Africa AOs combined in WWII.

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When I first read this, it blew my mind, but when I think through it, it doesn't surprise me.

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Supposedly all Purple Hearts awarded since the end of WWII are the ones made in preparation for the anticipated invasion of Japan and the immense casualties expected.

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I don't believe that is true today but was true up through the short in Grenada and the covert actions in central America in the 1980s. There's probably some contracting data on the procurement of Purple Hearts (and a design spec for the medal) that would shed light on that.

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So after a bit of googling I found from a 2010 Stars and Stripes article that as of 1985 there were 120,000 "refurbished Purple Hearts sets dating from WWII". Since 34,000 sets have been ordered since 1976 (of which 21,000 of those ordered in 2008) it is highly likely that the majority of those awarded during OIF/OEF were made for WWII.


Edit Whoop for 2004th total post.

Lewis and Clark Expedition was a 100% military operation.

They held formation everyday.

There was no fringe or beards.
When their uniforms wore out they wore uniforms made out of leather with their old unifoms as patterns.
They were also required to shave every Wednesay and Sunday.

The only time they formed for combat was to hunt down and attack a lone grizzly bear that had been raiding their camps in Montana in the Spring of 1805.

The Captains took just enough whiskey and tobacco to get them what they thought would be halfway. The dailey whiskey ration was part of the soldiers pay.

The expeditions powder was carried sealed in lead canisters. When the powder was needed the canister was melted down for shot.

The Expedition was very nearly killed off by the Shoshone when they came down out of the mountain pass in Idaho. They had never seen white men before. The only thing that kept them from being killed was the Shoshone woman called Sacagawea, she recognized the Shoshone headman as her brother.

More Army Air Corp men were killed over the skies of Europe (70K) than the entire USMC operations in the Pacific (30K).

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Lewis and Clark Expedition was a 100% military operation.

They held formation everyday.

There was no fringe or beards.
When their uniforms wore out they wore uniforms made out of leather with their old unifoms as patterns.
They were also required to shave every Wednesay and Sunday.

The only time they formed for combat was to hunt down and attack a lone grizzly bear that had been raiding their camps in Montana in the Spring of 1805.

The Captains took just enough whiskey and tobacco to get them what they thought would be halfway. The dailey whiskey ration was part of the soldiers pay.

The expeditions powder was carried sealed in lead canisters. When the powder was needed the canister was melted down for shot.

The Expedition was very nearly killed off by the Shoshone when they came down out of the mountain pass in Idaho. They had never seen white men before. The only thing that kept them from being killed was the Shoshone woman called Sacagawea, she recognized the Shoshone headman as her brother.

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Their favorite food? Dog.

Jack Lewis ( the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor) was declared AWOL and a deserter after he left his unit in Hawaii to stow away on a transport headed for Iwo Jima and combat. After landing he muffled one grenade by burying in the volcanic sand and covering it with his rifle and body and pulled a second grenade under himself. After the blast he was left for dead only to be found later and treated for massive injuries. Incredibly he would recover and after the war join the US Army's 82 Airborne and survive a training accident where neither his main nor his reserve chute deployed. He would pass away in 2008.

The only ground operation on the Japanese main islands during ww2 was an operation by the Sailors of the USS Barb, a submarine. They rigged a torpedo on a railroad track to blow up a train.

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The only ground operation on the Japanese main islands during ww2 was an operation by the Sailors of the USS Barb, a submarine. They rigged a torpedo on a railroad track to blow up a train.

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I thought they rigged up one of their scuttling charges from their submarine.

Heard this on Michael Berry Show yesterday but haven't verified it...
Oregon University football team along with two or three others were in Hawaii playing round robin games with UofHawaii. In fact, they had played the night of 6DEC and we're getting on a tour bus when the raid began. After hunting down in the hotel, some Army reps came over and commandeered them and the bus, issued them A3-03's and t
Gave them some quick target practice, then posted them along the beaches as watches, some were taken to an elementary school and posted to watch ammo stored there (imagine doing this today!). Anyway, all of the eligible members later enlisted and fought in the war. All but one returned home when it was over (I think he said there were 50+ members who joined).
Whether true or not, this is what our kids was made of back then.

By the way, the reason the Army has more hulls than the Navy is that the Corps of Engineers runs all of the barges in the military as well as coastal "tramp steamers" like the SS Green Wave.
Lee72
CAPT USN (Ret)

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More Army Air Corp men were killed over the skies of Europe (70K) than the entire USMC operations in the Pacific (30K).

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Actually, 8AF alone had more KIA (26K) in the ETO than the entire USMC (20K) in WWII.

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Heard this on Michael Berry Show yesterday but haven't verified it...
Oregon University football team along with two or three others were in Hawaii playing round robin games with UofHawaii. In fact, they had played the night of 6DEC and we're getting on a tour bus when the raid began. After hunting down in the hotel, some Army reps came over and commandeered them and the bus, issued them A3-03's and t
Gave them some quick target practice, then posted them along the beaches as watches, some were taken to an elementary school and posted to watch ammo stored there (imagine doing this today!). Anyway, all of the eligible members later enlisted and fought in the war. All but one returned home when it was over (I think he said there were 50+ members who joined).
Whether true or not, this is what our kids was made of back then.

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We have 1.4 million servicemen today and all volunteered to serve during the last two decades of non-stop war.

Our kids are still made of good stuff.