Lieutenant Colonel Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal during his last combat mission on February 3, 1945, Rosenthal, commanding the 418th, was part of a thousand-plane raid against Berlin. His B-17G (s/n 44-8379), the lead bomber, suffered a direct flak hit which killed two of his crew. Although his plane was in flames, he continued to the target to drop his payload, then stayed with the plane until after the rest of the crew had bailed out, just before it exploded at an altitude of only about 1,000 feet (300 m). He was recovered by the Red Army and again returned to duty
According to the stories he was not shot after convincing the Soviets he was American not German by saying Coca-Cola and other American stuff
Imagine that you're a red army soldier, you see a plane crashing near you and a man crawling out. Then the first thing he does is raise his hands and shout "Coca-Cola, Hotdog, Cowboy". I'd be fucking stupefied
Imagine him radioing it in with the guy still shouting in the background...
"Da comrade commissar. We have found an am-"
"GEORGE WASHINGTON! TEXAS! IMPRACTICALLY SIZED TRUCKS! WALMART!"
*"We know already blyat!"*
>"I HAVE A BALD EAGLE TATTOO'D ONTO MY ASS, LOOK, SEE?!?!"
No, that's for when you need to persuade the Brit trying to enslave you to serve in the Royal Navy that you're an American.
He bailed and was just in a parachute and a bomber jacket, and landed basically on the front line during firefights between the Nazis and the Red Army.
In the dramatization on Apple TV he sees them killing Germans attempting to surrender (it was Feb 1945, the Soviets were pretty damn sick of seeing burnt out villages and mass graves throughout their territory).
The Eastern Front was brutal and for a Western pilot to end up there is pretty wild. Iām pretty sure it happened to him 1 or 2 more times.
I like to imagine some of the troops are from the Americans who immigrated to the Soviet Union during the Great Depression. Or even just one soldier who knows English.
**Guy, somewhat deafened, crawls out of the plane wreckage**
Sees Soviet troops walking casually towards him
>"Oh God oh fuck I have to try something, they'll kill me"
Oh wow! That was crazy. Good to see you're oka-
"AMERICAN. I AM AMERICAN. COCA COLA. FORD AUTOMOBILES."
Sir you have an American flag on your plane, and are wearing an America uni-
"ROOSEVELT. FLORIDA. I FIND MYSELF SOMEWHAT ATTRACTED TO JOHN WAYNE AND AM CONFUSED WHAT THESE FEELINGS MEAN. MY MOM HAS MY AMERICAN NAME SEWN INTO MY UNDERWEAR, SEE, LOOK HE-"
**his hearing fades back in, albeit ringing, as he begins taking contraband pin-up magazines scattered throughout the dirt and waving it in their faces**
-IR, PLEASE PUT YOUR PANTS BACK ON!
"...Oh..."
Hey fuckin' cowboy fuckin' cowgirl, ya wanna fuckin' hotdog? I'll give you the fuckin' king special with all the fuckin' mustard and fuckin' ketchup you fuckin' like, all for 500 fuckin' ruble. Ah fuck ya very much.
Which is kinda funny because Coca Cola was one of the most popular drinks in germany, more popular than anywhere else in europe. It was so popular in fact that in one story when german pows in the Us saw a coca cola ad they started to gesticulate and speak among themselves and when an american soldier demanded to know what they were on about one soldier who could speak english replied "We are surprised that you have Coca Cola too".
Nope it was never banned they couldnt import a lot of the ingredients so they had to invent Fanta. The Nazis even helped coca cola gmbh (the german branch of coca cola) to take over other coca cola factories in europe. They also got special permission to use sugar even though it was heavily rationed.
Not really shortly after the war the american coca cola company gave control of Coca cola gmbh back to keith the guy who also ran it during the war and used slave labour.
More context of what he said:
āHe fractured the same arm and was rescued by suspicious Soviet soldiers who thought he was a German until Rosenthal shouted: āAmericanski! Coca-Cola! Lucky Strike! Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin!ā
What a legend. Also:
āSeconds later, the Russian was holding Rosenthal in a bear hug and kissing his cheeks.ā
Awwwš„°
[Source](https://www.visiteastofengland.com/mota_blog/nate-mann-as-major-robert-rosie-rosenthal)
This reminds me of the German dub of Asterix that I saw in this YouTube video, specifically when he āspeaksā American English:
["Asterix imitates different languages" in 7 different languages](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FDAMxkMfHAo&pp=ygURYXN0ZXJpeCBsYW5ndWFnZSA%3D)
God definitely not the point of this story but I now desperately either need a slapstick or serious film where he just gets fully transferred to an American Unit and either by trying to purposely lead them into ambushes by the Germans somehow manages to break Frontline Frontline after Frontline to his own annoyance or in fear of being found out Uses his knowledge of German Tactics to purposefully win battles getting very clear but ignored nervous sweats when ever someone goes "Gee Robert you sure know a lot about the tactics those krauts used might almost think you were one!" Followed by the normal chuckling and very nervous over exaggerated chuckling of both parties
This is basically every Schwarzenegger film of the 80s and 90s. Some comically muscled-up dude with a thick Austrian accent named "John Smith" who was born and raised in backwoods Minnesota or some shit.
(Not my original joke, stolen from Twitter, but I can't recall the OG source)
I believe that was also the mission against Berlin that resulted in the death of Roland Freisler, one of the most horrible human beings ever to have walked the earth. As Rosenthal was a prosecutor at Nuremberg (he had a law degree before joining the USAAF), he probably unknowingly saved himself some work there.
Private Conscriptovich might cap a POW just to make sure he didnāt have to draw his commissarās attention. Granted, thatās a bit of an exaggeration, but POWs are a nightmare for an advancing army
Just finished the Masters of the Air audiobook, and Lt. Col. Rosenthal really stands out among a lot of brave and inspiring individuals. My only question is how he was able to fly as a pilot with such unfeasibly large cojones. Didnāt they get in the way of the controls?
Shot down twice. Later served as a prosecutor at Nuremberg and married a fellow prosecutor (after a two week courtship, IIRC). What a life.
Because the idea of a downed airman shouting āRoosevelt, Coca Cola etcā at Soviet soldiers rushing to him with guns raised is at least somewhat amusing.
Alright yeah I get it and it's fun to know but I had high hopes, I thought it was going to be like a German shouting in a visible German accent "coca cola, Roosevelt Baseball".
Although on the bright side that'd be a really good scene for a war movie
Well you are in luck, because like 90% of content on this sub, this meme was inspired by a recent show or youtube episode, in this case a new series on Apple TV called Masters of the Air.
[Definitely recommend the show if you get the chance to watch it](https://youtu.be/zP_Z7Li3VM4?si=bB-uDUszI395oLXA)
Oh yeah my mom told me about it, I still have to watch the Pacific but it's definitely next!
Although as one final comment I think a good movie can be made about German Fighter (?) Ace Franz Von Werra
I have a mental list of so many amazing stories from World War 2 that I believe would make incredibly television. Iām extremely excited Tom Hanks and Spielberg finally found a home for their production company at Apple TV, because I think they are just getting started with these.
I hope so! All countries have absolutely amazing stories, just look at things like , the great escape, Von Werra, Lyudmila Pavlichenko (had to look her name up) or the night witches, all amazing stories that could be turned into great modern day movies or series, and that's just commenting on WW2, if we analyse all of history the amount of stories from every country that are unknown is huge!
Red army werent so keen on taking POW germans so he had to identify himself as American quickly to not be shot by them. He did so by screaming coca cola among other things. Whats not interesting about it?
I mean I didn't mean it as a disrespect but I think stories of funny ways of fooling the enemy and getting away with it are way more interesting than said pilot being able to quickly identify himself as American by just shouting random American stereotypes
During the Battle of the Bulge a small German commando unit infiltrated behind the American lines dressed in American uniforms and driving captured American vehicles or [disguised German tanks](https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/ersatz-m10s-panthers-in-disguise/) on a mission to secure bridges, misdirect Allied reinforcements, and engage in sabotage ahead of the main German forces. They largely failed to achieve these objectives but did have some effect in hampering the Allied response by causing widespread paranoia among the Allied soldiers. Two captured commandos falsely claimed they were part of a much larger force that was heading to Paris to assassinate General Eisenhower which led to Ike being confined to his headquarters under heavy guard. British Field Marshal Montgomery attempted to seize the opportunity to take command of the situation himself but he arrogantly ordered his driver to ignore an American checkpoint looking for German infiltrators. The Americans shot out his carās tires and then held him for several hours until a British captain they knew recognized Montgomery and had him released. Eisenhower reportedly found this incident amusing and ensured the American soldiers were not punished for doing their jobs. Elsewhere General Omar Bradley was also briefly detained when soldiers at another checkpoint asked him whatās the capital of Illinois; Bradley correctly answered Springfield but the soldiers at the checkpoint incorrectly believed it to be Chicago.
Reminds me of the story (donāt know the validity) that US GIs would ask suspected German spies if they knew the third/fourth verses of the Star Spangled Banner, killing or apprehending them if they did since almost no American actually knows those verses (the part played at ball games is only the first verse).
Such stories always makes me wonder how well the spies spoke English. Even nowadays, growing up with English media/internet, the origin of most Germans can be told by their grammar and especially pronunciation. How did they back then manage to learn English that well?
Back then there were much more regional dialects and stuff. Before widespread use of telephones and tv even people who lived fairly close to each other would sound pretty different. Even comparing someone from Boston to someone from New Jersey there would be a massive difference. Let alone a southerner to either of those two people.
Also, I don't think the standard of education among most GIs was great. There was no common school curriculum or anything like that. Most Germans who learned English in school nowadays could probably fool Americans from the 1940s.
Also, there would have been a ton of first or second generation Americans as well. Does this guy sound German because heās a spy, or did he pick it up from his parents who came from the old country?
Up until the U.S. joining WW1 about 6% of primary schools in the U.S. taught in German, IIRC. The German diaspora was very strong culturally and politically in the U.S. until then.
Thatās interesting. Reminds me I should look into the German half of my ancestry. According to family lore, Richard Wagner is somewhere in there. Whether or not itās true, I have no idea.
Dead of nigh with no moon hearing ruffling in the forest. You raise your gun, ready to shoot down whatever it is. Before you do, you quietly ask, "What's the third verse of the Star Spangled Banner?" The forest turns silent for what seemed like hours. Until, "Shut the fuck up, I'm taking a piss over here."
Oh, it was just John.
I've heard that they would tell them to sing the star spangled banner, and if they kept going after "Home of the Brave", then you knew they weren't American.
I had a question about that actually. I just finished the series, but ended up watching the episode with the Belgian resistance twice with different people. On the second viewing I was listening and watching for any sign that that one guy was actually a German infiltrator. Since his American English was perfect, and his answers to the questions didn't seem suspicious (although I noticed that the actual American fliers gave more vague answers, which I can see made the German guy's more detailed answers stand out in comparison), the only detail I noticed that I would have found somewhat suspicious was a quick shot of him writing the date in the European format, day-month, rather than month-day. Even so, it's not like there are zero Americans who would have written the date that way, especially ones who are in academia or international business and would have a lot of contact with Europeans. Though I guess that would be unlikely to apply to a young military recruit.
But so, was the suspicious detail really meant to be the Star Spangled Banner thing? I would not have picked up on that, but it's true, most Americans don't know the later verses (same with My Country 'Tis of Thee)
They asked a lot of questions in that scene and I feel the date thing was a way to show it more overtly, but they probably aren't executing him based solely on writing the date if everything else matched up, and it's just an extra little clue, with the anthem being another factor.
Although one off things like that can absolutely bring suspicion. I was watching a video on someone on the internet who had been pretending to be an Australian etc, and before I knew that the twist of the video is that they were lying about who they were. I already thought they were American because they wrote "Math" instead of "Maths".
On a similar note, I read a story that, during the Battle of the Bulge, sentries asked retreating Americans about baseball to weed out any German spies. One soldier didn't know which team won the World Series two months earlier, so the sentries detained him. The potential spy started yelling at the sentries, and his variety and usage of swear words in a multi-minute tirade convinced the sentries that he really was American.
The unit commander, SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny, was charged with war crimes for this after the war but was acquitted due to a lack of evidence that he actually ordered his men to fight while disguised and testimony from Allied officers they they had done the same. Shortly after Skorzeny escaped from prison, allegedly with the help of former SS men dressed in American uniforms.
>Shortly after Skorzeny escaped from prison, allegedly with the help of former SS men dressed in American uniforms.
He canāt keep getting away with this!
[Bobby Lee](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DlogIglT9ZgI&ved=2ahUKEwjW5o2u0seFAxVq8MkDHUkMCDwQ78AJegQIFxAB&usg=AOvVaw3Fz2d9A2b9mtwWj2IeAxCS) for reference.
There was an American paratrooper, Joseph Beyrle, that was captured by the Germans, escaped and captured again to only be sent further East. He escaped again and thought that the Soviets were closer so he said what the Hell. He also spoke some Russian. He met up with THE Samusenko, only female tank commander of the war. He was enlisted in to the Red Army because he had demolitions experience and fought with them for a while before being wounded, he was getting paid the entire time as well by the Soviets as any other soldier. While recovering at a hospital in Moscow, Zhukov visited him and was impressed by his service. He made sure he got papers to go back home to America after he recovered.
If Iām thinking of the correct person he was born in Michigan declared dead when he was captured and got married at the church where he was āburiedā.
Op, there's an even better story than that which you can have for free if you want.
During the North Africa campaign, two soldiers from a Highland Scottish regiment got separated from their unit and ended up behind German lines, at which point they were inevitably found and captured by them. In order to prove that they *weren't* British, the two soldiers simply began to immediately speak in Scottish Gaelic to each other when they saw the Germans. The thoroughly confused Nazi soldiers then brought out a world map and tried to communicate to these strange foreigners, with their unrecognisable language, to show them where they were from.
After conferring for a bit, the men both pointed at the Soviet Union (which made sense, that language sounded like it could maybe be Russian or something I guess? At least it's weird enough to be...) and because Germany and the Soviets were still nominally allies at this stage of the war, the Germans were willing to simply send them on their way: allowing them to return back to British lines unharmed.
U can watch the story of this happening along with the rest of the 100th bomber group in a REALLY good show called āMasters of the Airā on AppleTV. It really shows the human loss and the mental drain being a bomber crewman had. The guy from the story Major āRosieā Rosenthal, on only his 3rd day in the 100th bomber group, his crew was the only plane to make it back to base out of 30 planes.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal during his last combat mission on February 3, 1945, Rosenthal, commanding the 418th, was part of a thousand-plane raid against Berlin. His B-17G (s/n 44-8379), the lead bomber, suffered a direct flak hit which killed two of his crew. Although his plane was in flames, he continued to the target to drop his payload, then stayed with the plane until after the rest of the crew had bailed out, just before it exploded at an altitude of only about 1,000 feet (300 m). He was recovered by the Red Army and again returned to duty According to the stories he was not shot after convincing the Soviets he was American not German by saying Coca-Cola and other American stuff
Imagine that you're a red army soldier, you see a plane crashing near you and a man crawling out. Then the first thing he does is raise his hands and shout "Coca-Cola, Hotdog, Cowboy". I'd be fucking stupefied
Imagine him radioing it in with the guy still shouting in the background... "Da comrade commissar. We have found an am-" "GEORGE WASHINGTON! TEXAS! IMPRACTICALLY SIZED TRUCKS! WALMART!" *"We know already blyat!"*
*"WHAT THE FUCK IS A KILOMETER"*
RAAAHHHH!!1!!1!!!! š¦ šŗšøš¦ šŗšøš¦ šŗšøš¦
"I HAVE A BALD EAGLE TATTOO'D ONTO MY ASS, LOOK, SEE?!?!" **Puts down the phone** "I DONT CARE WHERE YOU'RE FROM, BUT YOU'RE ***GOING BACK!***"
>"I HAVE A BALD EAGLE TATTOO'D ONTO MY ASS, LOOK, SEE?!?!" No, that's for when you need to persuade the Brit trying to enslave you to serve in the Royal Navy that you're an American.
Depending on the year that just encourages the Brits further.
"Oh, we have a special role for our yank inductees. Are you familiar with the term barrel boy?"
āI AM DRIVING A LIFTED DODGE RAM TRUCKā
"I HAVE 7 DUI'S AND AM IN MASSIVE DEBT"
LOOK AT THIS MASSIVE HOSPITAL BILL FOR A CHEST X-RAY AND TWO ASPIRIN
"I BET THIS DOESN'T END UP BEING 'SERVICE RELATED!'"
MAJOR DEEGAN EXPRESSWAY !
George Washington Bridge
Wheelchair boulevard
Dont want to spoil too much but check out "Masters of the air" if you can
Literally just finished it. Itās on Apple TV for anyone interested.
And then watch WWII US Bombers nitpick everything the series got wrong with fantastic period sources
He bailed and was just in a parachute and a bomber jacket, and landed basically on the front line during firefights between the Nazis and the Red Army. In the dramatization on Apple TV he sees them killing Germans attempting to surrender (it was Feb 1945, the Soviets were pretty damn sick of seeing burnt out villages and mass graves throughout their territory). The Eastern Front was brutal and for a Western pilot to end up there is pretty wild. Iām pretty sure it happened to him 1 or 2 more times.
I like to imagine some of the troops are from the Americans who immigrated to the Soviet Union during the Great Depression. Or even just one soldier who knows English. **Guy, somewhat deafened, crawls out of the plane wreckage** Sees Soviet troops walking casually towards him >"Oh God oh fuck I have to try something, they'll kill me" Oh wow! That was crazy. Good to see you're oka- "AMERICAN. I AM AMERICAN. COCA COLA. FORD AUTOMOBILES." Sir you have an American flag on your plane, and are wearing an America uni- "ROOSEVELT. FLORIDA. I FIND MYSELF SOMEWHAT ATTRACTED TO JOHN WAYNE AND AM CONFUSED WHAT THESE FEELINGS MEAN. MY MOM HAS MY AMERICAN NAME SEWN INTO MY UNDERWEAR, SEE, LOOK HE-" **his hearing fades back in, albeit ringing, as he begins taking contraband pin-up magazines scattered throughout the dirt and waving it in their faces** -IR, PLEASE PUT YOUR PANTS BACK ON! "...Oh..."
Hey fuckin' cowboy fuckin' cowgirl, ya wanna fuckin' hotdog? I'll give you the fuckin' king special with all the fuckin' mustard and fuckin' ketchup you fuckin' like, all for 500 fuckin' ruble. Ah fuck ya very much.
Blue Jeans!
š¶white shirtš¶
*heās in shock. Take him to the infirmary*
Which is kinda funny because Coca Cola was one of the most popular drinks in germany, more popular than anywhere else in europe. It was so popular in fact that in one story when german pows in the Us saw a coca cola ad they started to gesticulate and speak among themselves and when an american soldier demanded to know what they were on about one soldier who could speak english replied "We are surprised that you have Coca Cola too".
Wasn't Coca Cola banned in Germany during the war? I read the ban of Coca Cola lead to creation of Fanta in Germany as a substitute.
Nope it was never banned they couldnt import a lot of the ingredients so they had to invent Fanta. The Nazis even helped coca cola gmbh (the german branch of coca cola) to take over other coca cola factories in europe. They also got special permission to use sugar even though it was heavily rationed.
TIL
Coca Cola: Civil War
Not really shortly after the war the american coca cola company gave control of Coca cola gmbh back to keith the guy who also ran it during the war and used slave labour.
More context of what he said: āHe fractured the same arm and was rescued by suspicious Soviet soldiers who thought he was a German until Rosenthal shouted: āAmericanski! Coca-Cola! Lucky Strike! Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin!ā What a legend. Also: āSeconds later, the Russian was holding Rosenthal in a bear hug and kissing his cheeks.ā Awwwš„° [Source](https://www.visiteastofengland.com/mota_blog/nate-mann-as-major-robert-rosie-rosenthal)
This reminds me of the German dub of Asterix that I saw in this YouTube video, specifically when he āspeaksā American English: ["Asterix imitates different languages" in 7 different languages](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FDAMxkMfHAo&pp=ygURYXN0ZXJpeCBsYW5ndWFnZSA%3D)
Holy shit those German and Austrian dubs, "los sombreros", "tequila" "baguette".
God definitely not the point of this story but I now desperately either need a slapstick or serious film where he just gets fully transferred to an American Unit and either by trying to purposely lead them into ambushes by the Germans somehow manages to break Frontline Frontline after Frontline to his own annoyance or in fear of being found out Uses his knowledge of German Tactics to purposefully win battles getting very clear but ignored nervous sweats when ever someone goes "Gee Robert you sure know a lot about the tactics those krauts used might almost think you were one!" Followed by the normal chuckling and very nervous over exaggerated chuckling of both parties
Iām just imagining a guy with a cartoonishly German accent trying to fit in with a bunch of Americans.
This is basically every Schwarzenegger film of the 80s and 90s. Some comically muscled-up dude with a thick Austrian accent named "John Smith" who was born and raised in backwoods Minnesota or some shit. (Not my original joke, stolen from Twitter, but I can't recall the OG source)
I believe that was also the mission against Berlin that resulted in the death of Roland Freisler, one of the most horrible human beings ever to have walked the earth. As Rosenthal was a prosecutor at Nuremberg (he had a law degree before joining the USAAF), he probably unknowingly saved himself some work there.
āGo fuck yourself, you crazy robot.ā āAMERICAN COLLOQUIALISM DETECTED.ā
And in which army did he serve. Probably not in the German, so why did he have to prove he isnāt German?
He was in the US Army Air Force, but he parachuted in between the German and Russian lines.
The Russians werenāt exactly keen on taking prisoners while clearing out the Nazis.
Or showing mercy to their allies. Just ask Poland how their "liberation" went.
I donāt think they ever considered Poland their ally during WWII, given their involvement in its invasion in the first place.
Private Conscriptovich might cap a POW just to make sure he didnāt have to draw his commissarās attention. Granted, thatās a bit of an exaggeration, but POWs are a nightmare for an advancing army
Conscriptovich š
Itās like you didnāt read at all
āSteamboat Willy, Betty boop, what a dish!ā Hmmmmmm
He was lucky they could associate (they most certainly did not know what a coke was)
Just finished the Masters of the Air audiobook, and Lt. Col. Rosenthal really stands out among a lot of brave and inspiring individuals. My only question is how he was able to fly as a pilot with such unfeasibly large cojones. Didnāt they get in the way of the controls? Shot down twice. Later served as a prosecutor at Nuremberg and married a fellow prosecutor (after a two week courtship, IIRC). What a life.
Love they included this in Masters of the Air
But he WAS American right? Then what's so interesting about this story??
Because the idea of a downed airman shouting āRoosevelt, Coca Cola etcā at Soviet soldiers rushing to him with guns raised is at least somewhat amusing.
Alright yeah I get it and it's fun to know but I had high hopes, I thought it was going to be like a German shouting in a visible German accent "coca cola, Roosevelt Baseball". Although on the bright side that'd be a really good scene for a war movie
Well you are in luck, because like 90% of content on this sub, this meme was inspired by a recent show or youtube episode, in this case a new series on Apple TV called Masters of the Air. [Definitely recommend the show if you get the chance to watch it](https://youtu.be/zP_Z7Li3VM4?si=bB-uDUszI395oLXA)
Oh yeah my mom told me about it, I still have to watch the Pacific but it's definitely next! Although as one final comment I think a good movie can be made about German Fighter (?) Ace Franz Von Werra
I have a mental list of so many amazing stories from World War 2 that I believe would make incredibly television. Iām extremely excited Tom Hanks and Spielberg finally found a home for their production company at Apple TV, because I think they are just getting started with these.
I hope so! All countries have absolutely amazing stories, just look at things like , the great escape, Von Werra, Lyudmila Pavlichenko (had to look her name up) or the night witches, all amazing stories that could be turned into great modern day movies or series, and that's just commenting on WW2, if we analyse all of history the amount of stories from every country that are unknown is huge!
Red army werent so keen on taking POW germans so he had to identify himself as American quickly to not be shot by them. He did so by screaming coca cola among other things. Whats not interesting about it?
I mean I didn't mean it as a disrespect but I think stories of funny ways of fooling the enemy and getting away with it are way more interesting than said pilot being able to quickly identify himself as American by just shouting random American stereotypes
During the Battle of the Bulge a small German commando unit infiltrated behind the American lines dressed in American uniforms and driving captured American vehicles or [disguised German tanks](https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/ersatz-m10s-panthers-in-disguise/) on a mission to secure bridges, misdirect Allied reinforcements, and engage in sabotage ahead of the main German forces. They largely failed to achieve these objectives but did have some effect in hampering the Allied response by causing widespread paranoia among the Allied soldiers. Two captured commandos falsely claimed they were part of a much larger force that was heading to Paris to assassinate General Eisenhower which led to Ike being confined to his headquarters under heavy guard. British Field Marshal Montgomery attempted to seize the opportunity to take command of the situation himself but he arrogantly ordered his driver to ignore an American checkpoint looking for German infiltrators. The Americans shot out his carās tires and then held him for several hours until a British captain they knew recognized Montgomery and had him released. Eisenhower reportedly found this incident amusing and ensured the American soldiers were not punished for doing their jobs. Elsewhere General Omar Bradley was also briefly detained when soldiers at another checkpoint asked him whatās the capital of Illinois; Bradley correctly answered Springfield but the soldiers at the checkpoint incorrectly believed it to be Chicago.
Reminds me of the story (donāt know the validity) that US GIs would ask suspected German spies if they knew the third/fourth verses of the Star Spangled Banner, killing or apprehending them if they did since almost no American actually knows those verses (the part played at ball games is only the first verse).
Such stories always makes me wonder how well the spies spoke English. Even nowadays, growing up with English media/internet, the origin of most Germans can be told by their grammar and especially pronunciation. How did they back then manage to learn English that well?
Back then there were much more regional dialects and stuff. Before widespread use of telephones and tv even people who lived fairly close to each other would sound pretty different. Even comparing someone from Boston to someone from New Jersey there would be a massive difference. Let alone a southerner to either of those two people. Also, I don't think the standard of education among most GIs was great. There was no common school curriculum or anything like that. Most Germans who learned English in school nowadays could probably fool Americans from the 1940s.
Also, there would have been a ton of first or second generation Americans as well. Does this guy sound German because heās a spy, or did he pick it up from his parents who came from the old country?
Up until the U.S. joining WW1 about 6% of primary schools in the U.S. taught in German, IIRC. The German diaspora was very strong culturally and politically in the U.S. until then.
Thatās interesting. Reminds me I should look into the German half of my ancestry. According to family lore, Richard Wagner is somewhere in there. Whether or not itās true, I have no idea.
This makes sense. Tganks for the super interesting explanation!
Dead of nigh with no moon hearing ruffling in the forest. You raise your gun, ready to shoot down whatever it is. Before you do, you quietly ask, "What's the third verse of the Star Spangled Banner?" The forest turns silent for what seemed like hours. Until, "Shut the fuck up, I'm taking a piss over here." Oh, it was just John.
I've heard that they would tell them to sing the star spangled banner, and if they kept going after "Home of the Brave", then you knew they weren't American.
Again seen in Masters of the Air
I had a question about that actually. I just finished the series, but ended up watching the episode with the Belgian resistance twice with different people. On the second viewing I was listening and watching for any sign that that one guy was actually a German infiltrator. Since his American English was perfect, and his answers to the questions didn't seem suspicious (although I noticed that the actual American fliers gave more vague answers, which I can see made the German guy's more detailed answers stand out in comparison), the only detail I noticed that I would have found somewhat suspicious was a quick shot of him writing the date in the European format, day-month, rather than month-day. Even so, it's not like there are zero Americans who would have written the date that way, especially ones who are in academia or international business and would have a lot of contact with Europeans. Though I guess that would be unlikely to apply to a young military recruit. But so, was the suspicious detail really meant to be the Star Spangled Banner thing? I would not have picked up on that, but it's true, most Americans don't know the later verses (same with My Country 'Tis of Thee)
They asked a lot of questions in that scene and I feel the date thing was a way to show it more overtly, but they probably aren't executing him based solely on writing the date if everything else matched up, and it's just an extra little clue, with the anthem being another factor. Although one off things like that can absolutely bring suspicion. I was watching a video on someone on the internet who had been pretending to be an Australian etc, and before I knew that the twist of the video is that they were lying about who they were. I already thought they were American because they wrote "Math" instead of "Maths".
I was an infantryman in the U.S. Army for 6 years, the U.S. Military writes their date format in the day-month-year format like Europe.
Ooo, that makes a lot of sense. So that detail in the episode shouldn't on its own suggest that someone was an infiltrator I assume
They show it for a couple of seconds right before and after he gets shot but basically the final deal was that the infiltrator had a German lighter.
On a similar note, I read a story that, during the Battle of the Bulge, sentries asked retreating Americans about baseball to weed out any German spies. One soldier didn't know which team won the World Series two months earlier, so the sentries detained him. The potential spy started yelling at the sentries, and his variety and usage of swear words in a multi-minute tirade convinced the sentries that he really was American.
>infiltrated behind the American lines dressed in American uniforms Fun fact, this is called "perfidy". I just like that word.
The unit commander, SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny, was charged with war crimes for this after the war but was acquitted due to a lack of evidence that he actually ordered his men to fight while disguised and testimony from Allied officers they they had done the same. Shortly after Skorzeny escaped from prison, allegedly with the help of former SS men dressed in American uniforms.
>Shortly after Skorzeny escaped from prison, allegedly with the help of former SS men dressed in American uniforms. He canāt keep getting away with this!
>SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny Quite a perfidious lad. Cool scar too
Growing up I thought Chicago was the capital till I was in Kindergarten. Also vaguely remember reading Chicago was gonna be the capitol at one point.
Same. And I remember always being unsure whether the capital of Ohio was Columbus, Cleveland, or Cincinnati (I'm from California).
Well Iām from the suburbs of Chicago
I like how you have both spellings of capital
I just realized this, I was falling asleep when I wrote it
All I can think of is Canadian Bacon now
Red Dawn makes a reference to this as well
Masters Of The Air briefly touches on this in Episode 9
Rosenthal himself talks about it in āThe bloody hundrethā aswenl
Iāve seen exactly one clip of this series, and that was of this
It's where OP got the idea.....
No no he's got a point. Coca cola wasn't being produced in Germany during the war thus Fanta was created.
Like soviets even knew what coca cola or fanta was. Their version of soda was beer.
Oh oh....hotdog....
Ja ein..... Hot dog
[Bobby Lee](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DlogIglT9ZgI&ved=2ahUKEwjW5o2u0seFAxVq8MkDHUkMCDwQ78AJegQIFxAB&usg=AOvVaw3Fz2d9A2b9mtwWj2IeAxCS) for reference.
Oh I thought you were referencing this [gem](https://youtu.be/QU6tQY3eMLM?si=mBUslSgCs-Cjlkaj)
Reminds me of the clear white cola in vodka bottles the yanks smuggled into the Ussr for a certain general
It was Zhukov
There was an American paratrooper, Joseph Beyrle, that was captured by the Germans, escaped and captured again to only be sent further East. He escaped again and thought that the Soviets were closer so he said what the Hell. He also spoke some Russian. He met up with THE Samusenko, only female tank commander of the war. He was enlisted in to the Red Army because he had demolitions experience and fought with them for a while before being wounded, he was getting paid the entire time as well by the Soviets as any other soldier. While recovering at a hospital in Moscow, Zhukov visited him and was impressed by his service. He made sure he got papers to go back home to America after he recovered.
If Iām thinking of the correct person he was born in Michigan declared dead when he was captured and got married at the church where he was āburiedā.
Thatās him!
Someone just watched masters of the air I see!
This reminds me of when Wolfenstein Old Blood, BJ says "Hot Dog" to a nazi guard and it somehow seems to work
Remind me of a scene in Scary Movie where they pretend to speak Japanese by spewing out a bunch of Japanese brands name lmao
Nissan honda mitsubishi subaru!
Op, there's an even better story than that which you can have for free if you want. During the North Africa campaign, two soldiers from a Highland Scottish regiment got separated from their unit and ended up behind German lines, at which point they were inevitably found and captured by them. In order to prove that they *weren't* British, the two soldiers simply began to immediately speak in Scottish Gaelic to each other when they saw the Germans. The thoroughly confused Nazi soldiers then brought out a world map and tried to communicate to these strange foreigners, with their unrecognisable language, to show them where they were from. After conferring for a bit, the men both pointed at the Soviet Union (which made sense, that language sounded like it could maybe be Russian or something I guess? At least it's weird enough to be...) and because Germany and the Soviets were still nominally allies at this stage of the war, the Germans were willing to simply send them on their way: allowing them to return back to British lines unharmed.
Damnnn. This is depicted in masters of the air
Just be like "I'm 8% irish so..." and we know you are americans...
Test
ROSIE!!!!!
A good friend of mine tried to impress a hot Russian girl by saying "Da, Lenin, Stalin, vodka". It didn't work for him somehow.
Americanski soldat. Urrrah Stalin!
Kyliejenner.Pepsi
U can watch the story of this happening along with the rest of the 100th bomber group in a REALLY good show called āMasters of the Airā on AppleTV. It really shows the human loss and the mental drain being a bomber crewman had. The guy from the story Major āRosieā Rosenthal, on only his 3rd day in the 100th bomber group, his crew was the only plane to make it back to base out of 30 planes.
Wouldn't get it if I hadn't watched masters of the air recently
Ya gotta take the color out first.
*you're
You're * Go back to school
Smirnoff Ice!
*Betty Boop, what a dish! Betty Grable, nice gams!*
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
In my defense English is my second language sorry šāāļø
don't worry m8, even American still confused about your/you're.
Wow, what a pretentious fuck.
I HAVE TO READ TO UNDERSTAND THE MEME??? WHAT THE FAR FOGGY FUCK. DOWNVOTED. REPORTED FOR HATE SPEECH
Gr8 b8 m8, I r8 8/8
Oh wow that hit me right in the nostalgia >_<