15. Secret Military History

1933-0615, Alcohol, why it's Called a "Class-Six" Store.
Why liquor stores are called Package stores, Class-Six, ABC Stores, On-Off Sales Stores etc.? Prior to prohibition, all liquor stores were called "liquor stores.”
When prohibition started in 1920 politicians loudly and proudly proclaimed, "By God If I am your Senator there will never be a liquor store in my state!” In 1933, prohibition was repealed. To help the politicians save face, liquor stores were called anything but "liquor stores.”

1934-0615, Hookers, MG MacArthur Blackmailed.
While stationed in the Philippines with his wife, MG (O8), Douglas MacArthur met Isabel Rosario Cooper, a prostitute, she become his mistress. MacArthur was forced to secretly pay Miss. Cooper $15,000 (315,000-2022) hush money when he tried to break off the affair. Some of the money went to a newspaper journalist named Drew Person who threatened to publish sordid details of the affair.

1937-1213, Rape, the Rape of Nanking
During the Sino-Japanese War, Nanking, the capital of China, falls to Japanese forces, and the Chinese government flees to Hankow, further inland along the Yangtze River.
To break the spirit of Chinese resistance, Japanese GEN Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed. Much of the city was burned, and Japanese troops launched a campaign of atrocities against civilians. In what became known as the “Rape of Nanking,” the Japanese butchered 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped of 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process.
At the end of WW2, Matsui was found guilty of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and executed.

1939-0615, War, 1-Million British Pets Killed, to Save Food.
Concerned about the food shortages prior to WWII, the British government formed the National Air Raid Precautions Committee (NARPAC) to decide what to do with pets before the war breaks out. The committee was concerned that pet owners might worsen the situation if they feed their animals. Every animal in London’s Zoo was killed.

1939-0615, Aviation, How American Airplanes Got Names.
During WW2 Britain bought American made airplanes. When Britain bought American P-51 fighters, they gave it a name “Mustang.” They also bought some A-29s, which they called, “Hudson,” and some US Navy PBY patrol aircraft which they called “Catalina” and lots of C-47 transports that they called “Dakota.”
The Americans were so taken by this practice of giving airplanes a proper name they adopted it, as an addition to their current purely functional designations. Thus, the “C-47” became the “C-47 Skytrain” and American personnel would refer to these aircraft by either designation. After WW2, the Americans continued the new practice
2000-0615, Aviation, Why the F-117 is Not a B-117.
The AF wanted their top pilots to fly the B-117 Nighthawks. With millions of dollars invested, they didn’t want to lose one by accident. There was no way a fighter jock would fly a bomber, so they changed the name from B-117 to F-117.

1939-0615, Military, History of the AF Song.
In 1939, a magazine called Liberty offered a $1,000 (20,226-2022) prize to come up with a song for the newly formed AF. The magazine wanted a song to rival the Army Air Corps song. Mildred Yount was the chairwoman of the song selection committee. The committee was composed of Air Corps generals’ wives along with COL Edmond I. Gruber, composer of “The Caissons Go Rolling Along.”
The winning song was submitted on 1939-0715, by a professional musician named Robert Crawford who called himself, “The Flying Baritone,” since he had a pilot’s license. The original title was, “What Do You Think of the Air Corps Now?” In 1947 the song was renamed, “The USAF.”
2020-0227, Military, AF Song Changed to Make it Gender Neutral.
AF Chief of Staff GEN David Goldfein made the change. He says, “Combat does not discriminate, and neither should we.”