The U.S. Attacks an Empty Island, Loses More Than 100 MenWhen a Japanese task force of 500 marines swiftly invaded the U.S. occupied island of Kiska, the Americans decided to take it back with 35,000 men, having done the math and determined that bringing 70 times more troops than the enemy is the precise amount to say "fuck off."
On August 17, 1943, The U.S. Army stormed the beach of Kiska with a force of 95 ships, 168 aircraft and thousands of Captain Americas. They bombed the beaches with planes, destroyed the garrisons with heavy artillery and then the soldiers charged in, shooting everything that somehow still stood.
The allies took the island and suffered 122 casualties.
When the dust settled and the Americans stopped to reload, pat themselves on the back, count the bodies and have the compulsory talk about their girls waiting for them back home, they suddenly realized that they couldn't find any enemy corpses. Either that Japanese task force was comprised entirely of Predators or they had been bamboozled.
Charge! Keep firing at everything ever!
Who Fucked Up?
The U.S. intelligence officers win the prize. After sending a plane and taking photos over Kiska, it looked a whole lot like it had been abandoned. And it had been--the Japanese had left the island two weeks before. Still, the decision was made to send in the troops and bring that nothing to justice rather than delaying the operation and checking to see that the enemy were actually fucking there. Good job, gentlemen.
It all could have been an amusing mistake, but only if you forget about the 122 dead. How do you lose over a hundred men in a battle with no enemy? Well, the losses included 24 from friendly fire, a stray mine destroying a ship and 47 men vanishing in the dense jungle. Though that last one actually lends credence to the Predator theory...
Read more: 5 Battlefield Screw Ups That Were Hilarious (Until People Died) | Cracked.com
http://www.cracked.com/article/208_5-battlefield-screw-ups-that-were-hilarious-until-people-died/#ixzz1LzaK1tME
