Odd but true facts about WWII

[Martinjmpr]

What's next Purple, You gone a say Judy Garland was a slut???

She wasn't a slut.









She was a junkie.

[Martinjmpr]

One of the odd "war facts" that I find interesting is that Jimmy Stewart was also a Vietnam Veteran. He was qualified to pilot the B-52 and flew a combat mission over South Vietnam while in the AF Reserves in 1966.

http://www.historynet.com/mr-stewart...to-vietnam.htm

[Martinjmpr]

There are inaccuracies in that "fact" list. For example:

- There were elements of the Luftwaffe airborne regiments which were fully airboorne qualified - as with the army units, they were airborne/air landing troops and the entire divisions or regiments were seldom all airborne qualified.

To be fair, though, the same thing was true of the 82nd, 101st, 11th, 13th, and 17th airborne divisions as well as the allied airborne units. From my recollection it wasn't until after WWII that the 82nd came up with the policy of being 100% airborne qualified.

For that matter, there's no real reason for an entire division to be airborne qualified and the same could be said of SF Groups, even though both the 82nd and SF have a 100% parachutist TO&E (or at least they used to.)

As for the Luftwaffe, the reason it had armored and infantry divisions was because Goering was such a powerful and influential member of Hitler's cabinet. They were "luftwaffe" for the purpose of giving Goering ground troops to command. Ditto for the Waffen SS units that were for all intents and purposes functioning as Army troops but were under the command of the SS (as a side note, you have to wonder if one reason so many German operations were cluster-fucks was because they had all these competing ground troops that required redundant support resources and had different chains of command. Apparently the vaunted German General Staff didn't understand the concept called "Unity of Command." )

[colmurph]

We learned alot from the Germans after the war. I know that some Waffen SS and Fallschirmjager officers served as advisors for years after the war. Some even within our ranks.

I had a Team Sgt. in the 3d SFG who was a WWII Fallshirmjeager and joined the US Army under the provisions of the Lodge Act.

Also, during WWII I don't think that there were any Marines serving in the ETO.

[brothers all]

Rod Serling creator of "the Twilight Zone" wasn't he a member of the 82nd? Jack Warden who appeared in "From Here To Eternity" and "Dog Day Afternoon" wasn't he 82nd also?

[T10]

Rod Serling

Serling as a senior in high school, 1943.

In addition to performance, Serling was also interested in sports. He excelled at tennis and table tennis, but when he attempted to join the varsity football team he was told he was too small at 5'4" tall.^[10]
Serling was interested in radio and writing at an early age. He listened to a variety of radio programs, especially thrillers with a fantasy or horror feel. Arch Oboler and Norman Corwin were two of his favorite writers.^[11] He also, "...did some staff work at a Binghamton radio station...tried to write...but never had anything published."^[11] Serling applied to, and was accepted to college during his senior year of high school; however, the U.S. was deeply involved in World War II at that time and Serling decided to enlist rather than start college^[12] immediately after he graduated from Binghamton Central High School in 1943.^[4]
[edit] Military service

As editor of his high school newspaper, Serling tried to persuade his fellow students to support the war effort in a variety of ways. He wanted to leave school before graduation to join the fight, but his civics teacher talked him into staying through graduation. "War is a temporary thing," Gus Youngstrom told an eager Serling, "It ends. An education doesn't. Without your degree, where will you be after the war?"^[13] Serling enlisted into the U.S. Army the morning after his high school graduation, following brother Robert.^[14]
Serling began his military career in 1943 at Camp Toccoa, Georgia under General Raymond "Joe" Swing and Col. Orin D. "Hard Rock" Haugen^[15] and served in the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division.^[4] Over the next year of paratrooper training Serling and others took to boxing as a way to get their aggressions out. Serling competed as a flyweight, and totaled 17 bouts, rising to the second round of division finals before getting knocked out.^[16] He was remembered for his berserker style and for "getting his nose broken in his first bout and again in last bout."^[17] He tried his hand at the Golden Gloves, but was not overly successful.^[11][18]
April 25, 1944, was the day Serling had been looking forward to: the day he received his overseas orders. When he saw that he was headed west, through California, he knew he was headed to fight the Japanese rather than the Germans. He was disappointed; being Jewish, he had hoped to have a hand in combating Hitler.^[19] On May 5, the division boarded the USS Sea Pike and headed into the Pacific, ending up in New Guinea, where they would be held in reserve for a few more months.

Men and equipment on Leyte beachhead. October 20, 1944.


It wasn't until November 1944 that these troops would see combat on the Philippine island of Leyte. The 11th Airborne Division would not be used as paratroopers; however, they were sent in as light infantry after the Battle of Leyte Gulf to help mop up after the six divisions that had gone ashore earlier.^[20] Their mission seemed simple; go from point A to point B, cleaning out Japanese positions as they went. In reality, the terrain and lack of military intelligence proved to be just as difficult to handle as the unpredictable enemy.
For a variety of reasons Serling was transferred to the 511th's demolition platoon, nicknamed the 'death squad' for its high casualty rate. According to Sergeant Frank Lewis, leader of the demolitions squad, "He screwed up somewhere along the line. Apparently he got on someone's nerves."^[21] Lewis also noted that Serling was not cut out to be a field soldier. "...[H]e didn't have the wits or aggressiveness required for combat."^[21] At one point Lewis, Serling and others were in a firefight trapped in a foxhole. As time passed and they waited for darkness Lewis noticed that Serling had not reloaded any of his extra magazines. Another example of how Serling was a dreamer in a harsh reality was that he would go off exploring on his own, against orders, and then get lost."^[21]
Serling's time in Leyte would shape his writing and his political views for the rest of his life. He witnessed death every day while in the Philippines, both at the hands of the enemy and through random events such as those that killed another extroverted Jewish private named Melvin Levy. Levy was in the middle of a comic monologue as the platoon sat resting under a palm tree when a food crate dropped from above, decapitating him as the men watched. Serling led the services for Levy and created a Star of David over his grave.^[21] In his future writing career Serling would set several of his scripts in the Philippines and use the unpredictability of death as a source for much of his material.^[22]
Serling marched away from the successful mission in Leyte with two wounds including one to his kneecap^[23] but neither was enough to keep him from combat when General MacArthur used the paratroopers as they were intended on February 3, 1945. Colonel Haugen led the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment as it landed on Tagaytay Ridge, met up with the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment and marched into Manila. There was minimal resistance until they reached the city where Vice Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi had barricaded his 17,000 troops behind a maze of traps and guns and ordered them to fight to the death.^[24] The next month witnessed Serling's unit involved in a block-by-block battle for control of Manila. As portions of the town were freed from Japanese control, the civilians showed their gratitude by throwing parties and hosting banquets. During one of these parties Serling and his comrades were fired upon and many people, both soldiers and civilians, were killed. Serling, still a Private after three years, caught the attention of Sergeant Frank Lewis when he ran into the line of fire to rescue a performer who had been on stage when the artillery started.^[25] As the troops continued to move in on Iwabuchi's stronghold Serling's regiment suffered a 50 percent casualty rate, with over 400 men killed. Serling was wounded, and three of the men he was with were killed by shrapnel from rounds fired at his roving demolition team by an anti-aircraft gun.^[26] He was sent to New Guinea to recover but soon chose to return to Manila to finish 'cleaning up'. Private Serling's final assignment was as part of the occupation force in Japan.^[27] For his service to the U.S. Army he was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star,^[28] and the Philippine Liberation Medal.^[4]
Serling's Army combat service affected him deeply and also influenced much of his writing. His wartime combat experiences left Serling with nightmares and flashbacks which would plague him for the rest of his life.^[4] He was quoted as saying, "I was bitter about everything and at loose ends when I got out of the service. I think I turned to writing to get it off my chest."^[1]

[Purple]

Also, during WWII I don't think that there were any Marines serving in the ETO.

There were some serving in the OSS in the ETO because of their heritage and language skills.

Purple

[mac117]

A few others:

Jack Dempsey (Professional Boxer) was an officer in the USCG during WWII. I have photographs of him in my father's scrapbook. His boat was docked next to my Dad's in England before D-Day.

Julia Childs was a member of the OSS in France during WWII. Guess she cooked for them....don't know.....

[Recon133]

We learned alot from the Germans after the war. I know that some Waffen SS and Fallschirmjager officers served as advisors for years after the war. Some even within our ranks.

When I was a Mfg line foreman for Cat in the late 60's. My final line inspector was a former Luftwaffe navigator. His plane was shot down over Europe. He was a POW at Ft Sheridan IL. After the War he applied for US Citizenship.