I love this! Still leading the way!

A 96-year-old WWII veteran first wore a mohawk to intimidate Germans before D-Day, and now he's done it again to spread joy during the coronavirus pandemic.

Guy Whidden of Frederick County, Maryland, was a 20-year-old paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division in 1944 when he decided to style his hair into a mohawk.

The idea, which was popular at the time, was to unnerve opposing German soldiers on the battlefield.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...avirus-pandemic.html

The most well-known sporters of the mohawk in the 101st were the so-called "Filthy 13", a unit of combat engineers attached to the HQ company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The 13 enlisted members of the 1st Demolition Section, at the suggestion of their Sergeant Jake McNiece, shaved their heads into mohawks and painted their faces with ersatz "war paint" before the Normandy jump.

Due to their unique look, they were widely photographed during the preparation for the operation, as well as on the ground in Normandy.

Rogue, your knowledge of history never ceases to amaze me.

Alone, I think it is amazing that he still has that much hair. I know mine has seemed to stop growing in certain areas. I can't imagine the things our men saw in the war with the Nazi garbage but I am glad for their service and all of those who have served. Great article.

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Originally posted by 1967Goat:
Rogue, your knowledge of history never ceases to amaze me.

Yes. We think we know a lot about something, and then we meet someone who actually does.

I used to live in rural Frederick Co. MD as a kid, and lived a few counties away for a couple years as an adult...I can't help but wonder if our paths ever crossed at some point.

Good on Mr. Whidden for spreading cheer now to his neighbors, friends, and family...and God Bless him and his brothers for his service.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:

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Originally posted by 1967Goat:
Rogue, your knowledge of history never ceases to amaze me.

Yes. We think we know a lot about something, and then we meet someone who actually does.

RogueJSK's knowledge of all things history and military is impressive enough on its own...but what truly impresses me is the speed in which he is able to post it along with the accompanying pics. Note the time in which he made his initial post in this thread compared to the time the Original Post was made...

...that is "next level" Terminator T-1000 type cyborg data access and performance speed.

How do you do that RogueJSK? ...I'd still be trying to find sources for the pics and pulling up the Post Image website in the time you crank out a complete forum post.

It’s a little off center but I’m not brave enough to tell him.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:

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Originally posted by 1967Goat:
Rogue, your knowledge of history never ceases to amaze me.

Yes. We think we know a lot about something, and then we meet someone who actually does.

The man is impressive with his knowledge. Left me having to go look up ersatz war paint..

The native Americans of the time were not upset by this depiction back in the day ? Didn’t file lawsuits or claim cultural appropriation?!

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Originally posted by ElToro:
The native Americans of the time were not upset by this depiction back in the day ? Didn’t file lawsuits or claim cultural appropriation?!

Nowadays, it's no the native Amaricans doing the complaining; it's virtue signaling, self loathing white folk.

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Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
How do you do that RogueJSK?

I'm not superhuman. But I'm glad you guys get a kick out of it.

I've just read and researched a lot, and have a slightly deeper knowledge of WW2 than most, a better memory than the average bear, and strong Google-Fu.


I've been reading about and studying 20th century military history, with a specific emphasis on WW2, for almost 30 years.

That knowledge base meshes well with my strong Google Fu. If I don't know something, or remember all the details about something, I at least know where/how to look for it.

And I also know what terms to use to quickly find pictures of that specific topic. Most of the photos I post in topics like this are easily found online. For some of the others, I keep a collection of photos on various semi-obscure 20th century military history topics on my computer and in my image hosting account. (For example, if I had found myself researching something before and had to search for hours to find a specific photo of it, I'll usually save that photo so I don't have to duplicate that time investment again. That tends to pay off later down the road, when/if that topic comes up again.)

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Originally posted by David Lee:
Left me having to go look up ersatz war paint..

Ersatz is a great German term. It just means "a makeshift or substitute item". Or more closely, "an inferior copy of something that's just been slapped together".

That is, the paint they put on their face wasn't authentic Native American war paint, or even close to it. It was just a loose approximation of what they thought it looked like, and which they believed made them look cool and intimidating.

Any idea how the Germans in Normandy reacted to the presence of “Native American” soldiers?
In Italy, some American war fighters were supposed to have quietly killed, scalped and left a German scout sitting beside the road with his hands crossed in his lap. The patrol following along behind him was said to have really freaked out in terror to see what the American Indians did to their comrade.

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Originally posted by Sportshooter:
Any idea how the Germans in Normandy reacted to the presence of “Native American” soldiers?

Since it wasn't widespread, I don't recall coming across any references to German reactions to it.

It was a relatively small number of paratroopers who did it.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Ersatz is a great German term. It just means "a makeshift or substitute item". Or more closely, "an inferior copy of something that's just been slapped together".

Tell me about it!



(Ersatzteile)

Looks like his head is attached to his thumb, not his body. Freaky illusion.

Been enjoying it for years, Rogue. Do continue...

I live in Frederick County but have never had the pleasure of crossing paths with this fine gentleman. They truly were the greatest generation.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

I was under the impression that these two were native Americans.