MEMORIAL DAY TRIVIA

Re: MEMORIAL DAY TRIVIA

I know the answer but will leave it to those younger to give an asthetically enhanced response.

John

The First Three

Decoration Day - A damnyankee tradition ignored in the American South until after WWII. (damnyankee is one word; it is eponymously incorrect to separate or shorten it and an abomination to capitalize it.) Confederate Memorial Day was (is?) a state holiday in many Southern states until the last quarter of the 20th century.

- The all Japanese unit (regiment, battalion or division -- I don't recall which) that served in WWII in the ETO garnering especial recognition and honors in Italy. Was it the 536th of the 36th ID?

- "Go for broke" was their motto.

I'll leave the others for others.

BobH

Re: MEMORIAL DAY TRIVIA

when I was a kid we would go to the grave yard and decorate the grave sites of the family members

Answers for first several

Decoration Day--Started to clean, maintain, and decorate graves, not to celebrate the "awards" decorations of heros.

100th Battalion 442 Infantry. Two mottos: "Remember Pearl Harbor" and "Go for Broke". These were the Japanese American and Polynesian men who weren't fit for service to the "American Way" at the beginning of the war. 21 Medals of Honor, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4000 Bronze Stars, 9,486 Purple Hearts and a 314% casualty rate. Editorial comment: We all need to remember how these 1940's "undesirables" stepped up when you consider deporting current Mexican and South American native borns with perhaps illegal parents.

Re: Answers for the rest.

The number may surprise you given what is known about Russia and the Viet Cong. 2,760,000 U.S. total all wars, Soviet Union in WWII 8,688,000 Military, 16,900,000 Civilian, Viet Nam conflict 1.1 million Viet Cong/North Vietnamese, 900,000 South Vietnamese (about 1 in 17 of the population of that time). 200,000 missing

What war caused the most U.S. casualties? WWII 290,000 dead, full total 1,078,162 includes combatant and non combatant, plus wounded

What War caused the most U.S. casualties based on the troops involved? Civil War 970,227 casualties almost all were troops includes both North and South.

According to the internet, what is the ratio of dead to wounded of U.S. troops in Iraq? Depending on the source 7.6 � 9.5 to one. Important because the survivable injuries are more severe and veterans benefits are not growing at a pace equal to medical and return to life necessities required to care long term for these men and women.

What is the primary psychological goal of basic (boot) training for infantry and marine units. This is no secret and it originates from German training in WWII. Annswer. Unquestioned response to orders. A dismantling of the individual mentality to a disciplined team mentality. Accept orders as a part of a team with no outside responsibility except to the team (and by extension, unit, corps, service, country). New recruits are emphatically trained to stand to post and follow orders and are �encouraged� to think outside of a civilian �moral� code. Sergeants are enforcers and officers are control. If there is a problem, you have bad leadership, don't ever only blame the grunt in the field.

Re: Casualty Rate?

Gary, please explain 314%. If none returned from battle that would be 100% casualty.

Re: Casualty Rate?

Not Gary, but I'm gonna give it a stab.

The casualty rate includes killed and wounded. Wounded are sometimes wounded multiple times; thus a casualty rate that exceeds 100%

Gary: Can you cite the sources for your American casualty rates in WWII and the Civil War? I thought the Civil War produced the greater number of both killed and wounded. This might be failing memory on my part. I do recall reading though that the death rate in the Civil War was the highest because there were no medicines effective against infection and all wounds -- from accidents or enemy action -- usually lead to infection. Even minor wounds, by today's standards, caused death.

BobH

Addenda

The other reason for a casualty rate above 100% is the addition of replacement troops for those KIA and the wounded who were disabled enough that they could never return to their unit.

While Vietnam casualties expressed as a percentage of troops who served seem small, remember that only abouit 1 out of 10 was ever in a line unit actually in combat. The supply, support, and logistics tail of an army is huge. Casualties in Marine infantry units, where I had experience, were very high and approached almost 100% over a 13 month period (tour of duty).