Strange but true tales of WW2!

[Softail]

Battle of the Bulge:

While northern and eastern flanks had been heavily engaged, the northeastern section had been rather quiet. The only excitement there had been was when an M8 armored car from "E" Troop destroyed a Tiger tank. The armored car had been in a concealed position at right angles to run along a trail in front of the MLR. As the tank passed the armored car, the M8 slipped out of position and started up the trail behind the Tiger, accelerating in an attempt to close. At the same moment the German tank commander saw the M8, and started traversing his gun to bear on the armored car. It was a race between the Americans who were attempting to close so that their puny 37-mm would be effective in the Tiger’s "Achilles heel" (its thin rear armor), and the Germans who were desperately striving to bring their "88" to bear … Suddenly, the M8 had closed to 25 yards, and quickly pumped in 3 rounds… the lumbering Tiger stopped, shuddered; there was a muffled explosion, followed by flames which bellowed out of the turret and engine ports, after which the armored car returned to its position.

WHO'D  A  THOUGHT!

[M0nkey_Man]

who woulda thought? eskimo lighting up a flame war.

[TeeArr]

From every thing I have read about the Battle of Midway, and it is considerable, The B-24s didn't hit any targets.  Torpedo 8 didn't actually save Midway, but what they DID was the stuff of legends. Although most of you already know the story, I won't go into detail. But the basics are that Torpedo 8, heading in before the rest of the attack was able to bring the Japanese fighter cap down to the deck which allowed the Dive Bombers to attack unimpeded.
Three Books I would recommend on this subject are:
"A Dawn Like Thunder" The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight, by Robert J. Mrazek. 2008
"No Higher Honor" The USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway,
By Jeff Nesmith.  1999
And Finally;  Gordon W. Prange's "Midway"  Probably one of the Best books written about the Battle.

Who Knew!   

[Ack-Ack]

If you really want to see a very stirring and moving film about VT-8, watch John Ford's war time film "Torpedo Squadron 8".  Unlike John Ford's other war time films, he made this one for the families of the members of VT-8 and was never intended to be shown to the public as only 30 copies (one for each family) was made.  Only time the Navy has honored a squadron in this way.

ack-ack

[Tigger29]

Through a reliable source I've learned the sun is really only 500 miles away:

To start off with, the sun is hot enough to glow yellow, so we can use Wein's Displacement Law to determine the temperature.

Wein's Displacement Law:
Peak Wavelength in meters = displacement constant / temperature in Kelvin

Yellow light has a wavelength between 570nm and 580nm, so we'll solve for 575nm. Since we are working with nanometers rather than meters, we'll simplify the math by multiplying the displacement constant by 10^9.

575 = 2897768.5/T
575 * T = 2897768.5
T = 2897768.5/575
T = 5039.6° K (8611.6° F)

So the sun is about 5039.6° Kelvin.

Now, the average temperature of the earth is 59° F, or about 288° K. The mean temperature gradient of the troposphere is 6° K/km, so let's solve for the distance.

d = (5039.6 - 288)/6
d = 791.9 km (491.1 miles)

There you have it. The sun is roughly 491.1 miles overhead. Depending on the exact shade of yellow (whether it's closer to 570nm or 580nm), this figure could be off by as much as 5 miles. However, I don't have a spectrometer handy, and I'm willing to live with an uncertainty of ±5 miles. It's not like I'm planning to visit anytime soon -- my shoes would melt .

[AWwrgwy]

Back to the OP's B.S. topic:

11. Enemy airfields were a five minute flight away.

And, most importantly:

12. No one ever dies in a war. They just .ef and re-up.

 


wrongway

[Meatwad]

Dont forget it is also powered by coal

[Tyrannis]

Wasent there a dive-bomber who's gunner threw toilet paper at enemy planes to scare them?

Seems like that fact would fit in perfect for this topic.

[Ack-Ack]

Can't leave out the USN ice cream ships, considered by sailors to be one of the most important ships in the fleet.

ack-ack

[TonyJoey]

Through a reliable source I've learned the sun is really only 500 miles away:

  You have no idea how difficult it is to read that thread with a straight face.

[Raphael]

Through a reliable source I've learned the sun is really only 500 miles away:

omg im throwing up omg omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i looked at the webstie, it gets worst and worst omg im feeling bad D: and there are pictures of kkk people too D:

"...since the sun is made of coal..."


"It could also be that the sun gets hotter in the summer and colder in the winter"
what the hell is this!?

[Raphael]

omg im taking off to college now (vacation is over) and im feeling bad ): i really hope they don't state earth is flat

[TonyJoey]

They already did.   Oh, and that guys a True ChristianTM who has experienced True Salvation®

[LThunderpocket]

omg im taking off to college now (vacation is over) and im feeling bad ): i really hope they don't state earth is flat

its not??

[Shuffler]

WWII was no game.

AH is a game that has to adhear to gamability issues.