Jeeps Loaded With Options - HISTORY

How did the Jeep come to get its name? R. Lee Ermey answers this question and looks at one of the most well-known military vehicles.

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In a Mail Call video, R. Lee Ermey answers a question from Charlie in Georgia who wants to know just where the term gung ho comes from; many leatherneck historians disagree about just when and how this term entered the Marine Corps vocabulary. Some historians think that Marines picked it up in the year 1900 when they were fighting in China during the Boxer Rebellion. Historians strongest theory pins the word on Lt. Col. Evans Carlson who in 1937, was a Marine observer in China studying the Chinese army. Carlson was impressed by how the Chinese troops worked together using a system of cooperation they called gung ho, which means work together. Carlson introduced this phrase to his own Marine troops but it didnt really catch on until 1943 when Randolph Scott portrayed a Marine in a movie called Gung Ho! After that, gung ho became a household word and a Marines highest compliment.

In this video clip of History's Mail Call, host R. Lee Ermey, along with Andy Miller of the Military Radio Collectors Club, takes a look at what kind of radios they used in World War II including the handie-talkie, walkie-talkie and TBX8 radio set.

In a Mail Call video, R. Lee Ermey answers a question from Tom of Kansas, who wants to know what the biggest gun in the world is. Ermey says to answer this question you first have to define what you mean by big; for we all know that guns like Big Bertha and Anzio Annie are big, but if you are talking total weight and size of the shell, then they are not the biggest. The Gustav gun created by the Germans, takes the cake on this one with an 80cm barrel. The Germans first used this gun in World War II; it was designed to pulverize French defensive bunkers in the early days of the war.

In this video clip of History's Mail Call, host R. Lee Ermey takes a look at what kind of personal items our World War II soldiers carried. Cameras and diaries were forbidden but compact shaving kits, letters from home, magazines, prophylactic kits and other small items were common.

In this video clip of History's Mail Call, host R. Lee Ermey takes a look at the equipment paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions used on D-Day including m1942 jump suits, a switchblade, rope, first aid kit, cricket clickers, gas masks and more.