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Interesting Facts and Stories

Yeah the number of countries that are truly homogenous in terms of one 'race' or 'culture' is very small. Defined by having no more than 5% of their population from outside of the country. From memory it's something like five. Japan is probably the best example off the top of my head.
 
A boy, the youngest lance sergeant in the Serbian army.

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Momčilo Gavrić,the youngest soldier in WW One, lived in Serbia at the outbreak of the war. In 1916, Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed his father, mother, grandmother, his three sisters, and four of his brothers. After hearing what had happened, the major accepted Momčilo into the unit and assigned him to a soldier. That night, Momčilo showed the major where the Austro-Hungarian soldiers were and helped bombard them. At ten, he was promoted to Corporal and at eleven to Lance Sergeant.

According to his son Branislav, Momčilo Gavrić had an incident with the law in 1929. He was working in Šabac and Belgrade when he reached the age of conscription, and at the military barracks in Slavonska Požega, he reported that he already had been in the army during the war. He also said that he had been wounded, and had received the Albanian Retreat medal. However, an ethnic Croat in the Yugoslav Royal Army tried to push Gavrić into signing a confession that he had told a lie. He refused, and was sent to prison, spending two months there.

After another period of military service, he returned to Belgrade, where he learnt graphic design and took his driver’s license. There, he also married his wife Kosara, with whom he worked in the Vapa paper mill.

Branislav Gavrić further told that during the Second World War, Momčilo was imprisoned twice by the German occupying forces.
Gavrić died in Belgrade in 1993.
 
funny map, but of course there is always the problem of how you count. Citizens of former Yugoslavia far outnumber turks in Austria, but since the breakup of YU they don´t make the map. Also the EU has declared war on dual citizenship, so that many would be foreign nationals "dissappear." Turkey promotes retaining its own citizenship for turks living abroad, whereas ex YU countries don´t care AFAIK.
Then there are genuine historical minorities and recent migrations.
 
Of the 18 warships damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor, shipyard workers raised or salvaged 16 of them. But wartime censorship prevented most their stories from reaching the public.
On Sept. 6, 1942, Nimitz presented the Navy “E” pennant to the Navy Yard for its production efficiency, telling workers, “The tireless devotion of the civilian workers to the tremendous task imposed upon them with the outbreak of hostilities will make one of the proudest memories of this war when it can be told.”

from honolulumagazine.com
 
In February 1942, Lt. James Clarkson was checking the water pressure of a compartment of the USS Nevada when he collapsed and died. It was hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas caused by the decomposition of bodies, clothing and other organic matter. Machinist Peter Devries, who entered the compartment to help, also died within minutes.
Tom Cary, a diver working on the USS Utah, died in 1943 after reporting that his air supply had been cut off.

from honolulumagazine.com
 
The British Army currently has just 227 active Challenger 2 tanks – while neutral Switzerland has 380 active ones, despite not having waged a war for more than 150 years.

from telegraph.co.uk
 
Towards the end of World War 2 the Canadian Army had been (finally) amalgamated together following the Divisions that had been posted to Italy since 1943 rejoining their comrades in North West Europe in 1945. Fighting their final battles in the Netherlands and border region with Germany, they spent the following post war months stationed in Dutch cities awaiting repatriation back to Canada. The final soldiers returned in late 1946.

During their extended period in the Netherlands it's estimated that over 6,000 local women became mothers from Canadian soldiers, 1,500 of which were already married (mostly with husbands missing following forced relocation to Germany for labour). Separate to these numbers was the large number of Dutch women who also took the opportunity to migrate to Canada following the war to follow their sweethearts, a measure endorsed by the Government of the day as it tried to cope with a crippled economy and widespread poverty.

Combined with the numbers of babies born to Canadian soldiers in Britain following romantic liaisons with British women during their long period of mobilization on the British Isles (1940 - 1943), the Canadian Army was actually one of (if not) the most promiscuous of the day on a per capita basis.
 
Matt Louis Urban (August 25, 1919 – March 4, 1995) was a United States Army infantry officer who served with distinction in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations in WW2. He scouted, led charges upfront, and performed heroically in combat on several occasions despite being wounded.
Urban was called the Ghost by his German foes because he kept coming back to fight despite his wounds.
He was awarded over a dozen combat decorations by the Army, including seven Purple Hearts.
In 1980, he was awarded and presented the Medal of Honor and four other combat decorations belatedly for repeated acts of heroism in combat in France and Belgium in 1944. The Guinness Book of World Records in 1989, considered Urban to be the United States Army’s most combat decorated soldier of WW2.
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In Section 7a of the "Prominent Military Figures" portion of Arlington National Cemetery's webpage, there is the statement, "Lt. Col. Matt Urban - World War II infantry officer who earned the distinction as the most decorated soldier in WW II".
 
Anti German hysteria in the United States during the WW1

During WW One, german americans were sometimes accused of being too sympathetic to the German Empire. Former president Theodore Roosevelt denounced "hyphenated Americanism," insisting that dual loyalties were impossible in wartime.

Anti-German fervor during World War I resulted in the renaming of German (or German-sounding) food. Sauerkraut became liberty cabbage, frankfurters became hot dogs, and salisbury steak turned into meat loaf. German-named streets were renamed. The town of Berlin, Michigan was changed to Marne, Michigan (honoring those who fought in the Battle of Marne).

Congress passed a bill that required all German-language newspapers published in the United States to print an English translation of any comment respecting the government of the United States, or of any nation with which Germany is at war, its policies, international relations, the state or conduct of the war, or any matter relating thereto.

Thousands were forced to buy war bonds to show their loyalty. The Red Cross barred individuals with German last names from joining in fear of sabotage. One person was killed by a mob; in Collinsville, Illinois, German-born Robert Prager was dragged from jail as a suspected spy and lynched. A Minnesota minister was tarred and feathered when he was overheard praying in German with a dying woman . In Cincinnati, the public library was asked to withdraw all German books from its shelves.

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In Iowa, in the 1918 Babel Proclamation, the governor prohibited all foreign languages in schools and public places. Nebraska banned instruction in any language except English, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the ban illegal in 1923 (Meyer v. Nebraska). The response of German Americans to these tactics was often to "Americanize" names (e.g. Schmidt to Smith, Müller to Miller) and limit the use of the German language in public places, especially churches.

Civilian Internees
In anticipation of support for Germany among U.S. immigrants, President Wilson issued two sets of regulations in 1917, imposing restrictions on German-born residents. Some 250,000 people were required to register at their local post office, to carry their registration card at all times, and to report any change of address or employment. The Justice Department attempted to prepare a list of all German aliens, counting approximately 480,000, more than 4,000 of whom were imprisoned in 1917-18. The allegations included spying for Germany or endorsing the German war effort. Some remained in custody until as late as March and April 1920.

Source: Boundless. “The Anti-German Crusade.” Boundless U.S. History. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015.
 
In late 1982, Samantha Smith, a young girl of fifth-grader at Manchester Elementary School in Manchester, Maine, wrote a plaintive letter to Soviet leader Andropov.

She said
Dear Mr. Andropov,
My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote to have a war or not? If you aren't please tell me how you are going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have to answer, but I would like to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live together in peace and not to fight.
Sincerely,
Samantha Smith

Her letter was published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda. Samantha was happy to discover that her letter had been published; however, she had not received a reply. She then sent a letter to the Soviet Union's Ambassador to the United States asking if Mr. Andropov intended to respond. On April 26, 1983, she received a response from Andropov:

Dear Samantha,
I received your letter, which is like many others that have reached me recently from your country and from other countries around the world.
It seems to me – I can tell by your letter – that you are a courageous and honest girl, resembling Becky, the friend of Tom Sawyer in the famous book of your compatriot Mark Twain. This book is well known and loved in our country by all boys and girls.
You write that you are anxious about whether there will be a nuclear war between our two countries. And you ask are we doing anything so that war will not break out.
Your question is the most important of those that every thinking man can pose. I will reply to you seriously and honestly.
Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are trying to do everything so that there will not be war on Earth. This is what every Soviet man wants. This is what the great founder of our state, Vladimir Lenin, taught us.
Soviet people well know what a terrible thing war is. Forty-two years ago, Nazi Germany, which strove for supremacy over the whole world, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet men, women and children.
In that war, which ended with our victory, we were in alliance with the United States: together we fought for the liberation of many people from the Nazi invaders. I hope that you know about this from your history lessons in school. And today we want very much to live in peace, to trade and cooperate with all our neighbors on this earth — with those far away and those near by. And certainly with such a great country as the United States of America.
In America and in our country there are nuclear weapons — terrible weapons that can kill millions of people in an instant. But we do not want them to be ever used. That's precisely why the Soviet Union solemnly declared throughout the entire world that never — never — will it use nuclear weapons first against any country. In general we propose to discontinue further production of them and to proceed to the abolition of all the stockpiles on Earth.
It seems to me that this is a sufficient answer to your second question: 'Why do you want to wage war against the whole world or at least the United States?' We want nothing of the kind. No one in our country–neither workers, peasants, writers nor doctors, neither grown-ups nor children, nor members of the government–want either a big or 'little' war.
We want peace — there is something that we are occupied with: growing wheat, building and inventing, writing books and flying into space. We want peace for ourselves and for all peoples of the planet. For our children and for you, Samantha.
I invite you, if your parents will let you, to come to our country, the best time being this summer. You will find out about our country, meet with your contemporaries, visit an international children's camp – Artek – on the sea. And see for yourself: in the Soviet Union, everyone is for peace and friendship among peoples.
Thank you for your letter. I wish you all the best in your young life.
Y. Andropov

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Samantha Smith holds a letter she received from Soviet Premiere Yuri Andropov in 1983, after she wrote to him about world peace.

In July, accompanied by her parents, Smith embarked on a two-week trip. She was a hit in the Soviet Union, and although she did not get to meet with Andropov, she traveled widely and spoke to numerous groups and people. In the United States, some people branded her as a patsy for the communists and claimed that Soviet propagandists were merely using her for their own purposes, but Samantha’s enthusiasm and contagious optimism charmed most Americans and millions of other people around the world. During the next two years, Smith became an unofficial U.S. goodwill ambassador, speaking to groups throughout the United States and in foreign nations such as Japan.

On August 25, 1985, while traveling with her father, their small plane crashed and both were killed.

Much speculation regarding the cause of the accident circulated afterwards. Accusations of foul play circulated widely in the Soviet Union.-

Samantha Smith was mourned by about 1,000 people at her funeral in Augusta, Maine, and was eulogized in Moscow as a champion of peace.
 
Dirk J. Vlug, born in 1916, served as a US Private First Class in the 126th Infantry Division based in the Philippines. On December 15, 1944, Dirk’s unit and the roadblock they were protecting came under attack from a Japanese force. Leaving his covered position in a charge, with a rocket launcher and five rounds of ammunition, Vlug came under fire from machine guns. Despite this, he loaded the rocket launcher single-handedly, Vlug destroyed an enemy tank. He then killed the gunner of a second tank with his pistol and finished off the second tank with another rocket. Seeing three more tanks moving up the road, Vlug flanked the first and eliminated it. He pressed forward to destroy his fourth tank for the day. With the last round, he sent the final tank down a steep embankment. In all, he destroyed five tanks by himself.

One man. Five tanks. Six rockets. For his incredible efficiency and absolute fearlessness Vlug was awarded the United States Congressional Medal of Honor.

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Vlug died at age 79 and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
 
The dutch warship Abraham Crijnssen, was disguised as a tropical island to escape detection by the Japanese bombers.

The ship was based at Surabaya in the Netherlands East Indies when Japan invaded in 1941. Following the Allied defeats at the Battles of the Java Sea and Sunda Strait in late March 1942, all Allied ships were ordered to withdraw to Australia.
Abraham Crijnssen was meant to sail with three other warships, but found herself proceeding alone.

To escape detection by Japanese aircraft (which the minesweeper did not have the armament to defend effectively against), the ship was heavily camouflaged with jungle foliage, giving the impression of a small island. Personnel cut down trees and branches from nearby islands, and arranged the cuttings to form a jungle canopy covering as much of the ship as possible. Any hull still exposed was painted to resemble rocks and cliffs. To further the illusion, the ship would remain close to shore, anchored and immobile, during daylight, and only sailing at night.

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She headed for Fremantle, Western Australia, where she arrived on 20 March 1942; Abraham Crijnssen was the last vessel to successfully escape Java, and the only ship of her class in the region to survive.-
 
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