600 years is my limit. It's long enough to learn all the languages to travel wherever you want to. See the world change eras but not have to deal with the droll of immortality.
As a no-longer-active Marine, I can relay that Dan Daly is still, to this day, a legend in the Marine Corps. Every recruit that goes through Boot learns about this man both from Drill Instructors and in the classroom. He, along with many other Marines throughout history, is held up as an exemplar of what a Marine should be, and I am stoked to see his story told to the rest of the world by a storyteller as entertaining as Fat Electrician!
Gun nut commentary: The machine guns he would have used would be the Colt-Browning M1895 during the Boxer Rebellion and either the same gun or the Hotchkiss M1909 in Haiti. Both were 1st/2nd gen. machine guns that had major problems, mostly with heating and feeding issues. They were also meant to have a 2 or 3 man crew. The fact he operated and maintained one for an entire night against a mob of fanatics is nothing short of miraculous.
I thought you were going to answer the question in the video. Machinegun and ammo would be fine if at the bottom of a river for a few hours. Just dry it and clean it if you don't want malfunctions. My best guess. 😅👌
@morgankuikka: The main drawback of the otherwise solid PD is that the action was completely exposed, the ammo belts were hard to clear, and the integral barrel was easily overheated. A single solid obstruction or misfire would render it useless until it could be serviced. Field repairs simply weren't a thing back then. A barrel deformation would have outright bricked it. Don't forget, this was a crew served weapon. @rando: Good catch. The 6mm did fix a lot of the issues, but not all. @Tommy: Damn right. @armstrong: Having the gun submerged for a few hours would be a non-issue. The ammo being underwater would only be a minor issue. The belts, however, were made of cloth back then, and if not properly dry, could add significant weight and interfere with the feed. Not to mention, getting everything dried out in a humid Haitian jungle in the middle of the night would be borderline impossible.
I always interpreted “Do you want to live forever?!” as having a double meaning: 1.) Yes, do you really wanna live forever?! 2.) If we do this, our legend will live beyond us.
Sabaton didn't write a song *specifically* about Daly, but they did write one about the Battle of Belleau Wood; the song is called "Devil Dogs", and it has the famous quote attributed to Sergeant Daly! (To wit: _"Come on, you sons of bitches - do you want to live forever?!"_ )
Which song is that? I have a couple Sabaton albums but still expanding it lol EDIT- okay my bad you literally titled the song here I’m just too drunk to read properly 🤣
Honestly, at least a whole verse seems dedicated to him. They did not say his name but I'd say the described him well enough and then quoted him. In times they are needed, such times they appear When a leader has fallen, a hero arise And inspire the lost into glorious deeds that Would give them a name that live on to this day When… In times they are needed, such times they appear When a leader has fallen, a hero arise And inspire the lost into glorious deeds that Would give them a name that live on to this day Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?
Fun fact: because they included that quote verbatim, they had to have the album it came from (The Great War) marked with a parental advisory label due to the inclusion of that quote on the track "Devil Dogs". A single line in a single song got the whole album marked as explicit, and none of Sabaton's work has been marked as explicit before or since that album. Let that sink in
It was a water cooled Machinegun most likely, but as long as you dry it off and re-oil it, it's all good, but honestly, just to make it work for what's needed, dry it off and clean off any debris. The ammo was wax sealed, so as long as it wasn't a month, the ammo should be fine.
That's basically what I said in my breakdown. But I also included some info on the procedure for drying out the cloth belts that were undoubtedly soaked and swelled up
@@shockwave6213, I didn't think about the cloth belt. Good catch, I hand loaded one, it SUUUUUUUUUUUCKS, lol, but is WAY easier than hand loading the link belt.
I’m not as familiar with these early guns but the ammo and belt should have been sealed in wooden boxes, which may have protected a few belts from moisture as it was only a few hours
@@jackhull8304, not necessarily, they were by no means waterproof, the bullets were soaked, it just keeps off rain, I have one of those wooden ammo boxes, love it.
@@jackhull8304 The wood boxes aren't water tight. Look up the ammo box for an M1917 Machine Gun and you'll see. The boxes didn't have a rubber gasket like the later steel boxes. Even the German ammo boxes in WW2 didn't have the gasket. That's because Rubber was a rather expensive commodity and it wasn't until BF Goodrich developed a Petroleum based rubber substitute that the sheer amount of rubber needed to make gaskets for billions of ammo boxes was available. Germany made synthetic rubber too but their Oil stockpile wasn't large enough to permit it. Seeing as how these events happened well before synthetic rubber was finally created, they only had the expensive natural stuff to work with
Something that’s over looked is the position from which Dan Daly curbstomped the boxers. It was basically a walkway on a bridge that gave him a Thermopylae type advantage where the rebels had a narrow avenue of approach. Hence him being able to clear out a large number of them; however there’s a high stat of them that we’re unboxed from this plane of existence.
The machine guns being submerged for a night probably had little to no effect on their functionality, all you really need to do is field strip it, clear any dirt/mud from any of the moving parts, and then lube it back up. The speed of the actual cleaning can vary, but most guns field by the military are designed specifically with reliability and ease of cleaning in mind for obvious reasons.
seconded. that equipment was pretty reliable in terrible conditions. a quick field strip and it was fine to go. i'd have been more concerned about the cloth belts of the rounds than the gun itself. but if those dried up a bit, you've got a hot weapon.
The "Do you want to live forever" line, in context, was honored in the movie Starship Troopers where the leader of the Main characters unit would use the phrase "Come on you Apes, You wana live forever?!" As a rallying cry.
What’s crazy is the last story is easily the most Medal of Honor worthy story and they refused to give him more than 2 MOH’s…but still 2 MOH’s should tell the world how much of a badass you are
Interesting Naval Fact: USS Maine was a type of ship known as an ‘Coastal Defense Battleship’ but was really more along the class and size of an ‘Armored Cruiser’. She was already woefully obsolete by the time of her deployment to Cuba and in dire need of a refit. While stationed in the harbor of Havana, on February 15, 1898, a tremendous explosion ripped the ship apart, killing 266 of her 354 crew. Originally believed to be a mine that sank her, (in fact that was the public opinion that Spain had sunk the ship), investigations conducted around 1910 or thereabouts, confirmed it was in fact a coal bunker explosion that had sunk the ship.
@@Drocksas @benn454 Indeed. It was actually before this conflict that famous newspaper illustrator, Frederic Remington, had written his boss, newspaper magnate and owner, William Randolph Hearst, requesting to be removed from Cuba as there was: "All quiet. No trouble here. There will be no war. Wish to return." Hearst responded with the following: "Please remain. You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war." One month later, Maine exploded. Remington's illustrations of the ship as she exploded, burned and sank, made front page papers across the nation under the caption: "Remember the Maine! To Hell With Spain!"
I'm not military(photo is my grandfather from WW2.. sorry for the confusion) but I do know 1 or 2 things about weaponry.. What it would do to a gun and ammo really depends on how long it was submerged for.. Most guns if they are submerged for a short amount of time(ie day or 2) it should pretty much be a clean it real well(no muck left behind).. reoil it.. and the gun itself would be completely fine. if it had been Saltwater the timeline shortens... the Bullets however SHOULD be ok.. but totally depends on how airtight they were. the more water gets into the bullet the higher the likelihood of Dud ammunition that just won't ignite..
Definitely a huge problem for 19th century black powder ammo. Not much of an issue for modern brass cartridges. The biggest concern is salt water corrosion, which happens over long term exposure. Ammo that you're going to expend in a battle the next day? Wipe it off, it'll be fine.
@benn454 exactly my thought... 1-2 days doesn't give the water long enough to penetrate most cartridge rounds.. taking into account that back in 1915 Cartridge rounds were the norm but possible quality control issues I'd say Some ammo probably was ruined but majority was fine to lock and load.. and since it was a river I assume it was probably fresh water..although I could be wrong about that.. I don't know haiti's rivers very well..
i think that quite "do you want to live forever" was both as you put it but also a call to write their name in the history books. which is pretty fucking bad ass
The Fat Electrician has really done something amazing with his channel. His delivery is awesome. The USMC has one thing I wish the other branches would adopt, well 2 things. The “Esprit De Corps” is the first. All branches teach new recruits about the history of that particular branch and different wins in battles, and Hero’s along the way. The Marines do it on a much higher level. The Marine Corps ball for example is Huge and celebrated at every MC base worldwide. Other branches have there own annual celebrations but nothing comes remotely close to the Marines. That’s just one aspect of it. The pride each Marine has for the USMC, the aggressiveness for the fight and to the men they fight beside… it’s truly inspiring. The second is the aggressive nature in which they do there job. Other branches might teach recruits to be diligent and by the book and to be proud of your branch and your job, but after training it falls flat on its face and all those things are out the window. I knew a lot about the USMC from stuff I did in High School. And when I decided to join that was my initial choice. But, I had family in the USAF and even Army guys telling me to join the Air Force. I was told a story from a friend. While deployed she had a big screen tv a gaming system and AC in there tent, while the Marines where lucky to have a working AC and even more troops in each tent. I went to the recruiters offices, not knowing what I was going to choose. I decided to go Air Force because of the bases my uncle chose to go to. Germany, Hawaii, California, Florida, and even back to Oklahoma every now and then to be by family. I wanted to travel, and do my part along the way…. I got stuck in Texas for a decade.. In training we where told things like “when you get to the real Air Force” about some of the attention to details, like they would not be the same. But they didn’t explain it to people right. See the reasons we had to do things a certain way wasn’t about BS stuff. It was about the attention to the details of the task. So you would be able to do it accurately and expediently while under duress. Because the tasks we would have to learn when we got to our duty stations where very important and needed to be done by the book. I took that very seriously as I did my place as the new guy and a lower rank compared to guys 2-3 years my junior. I showed the respect for the rank and followed customs and curtesy and stuff like that and always kept my uniform in top shape to include boots. That first couple of years was a difficult time. All those things I liked about The USMC where nonexistent. We where always busy but I swear I saw a lot of people sitting around all week instead of working. Very few people took the initiative to do housekeeping tasks on their Air Craft if they had downtime. Then TH-cam and Facebook hit and could be reached on work computers… so much wasted time. When we had low manning and we where stuck on 12’s at home station, people only complained about it. It took me almost a year to figure out why it was happening in our shop but for our entire squadron…. It was one of those little attention to details that people just blew off. It took me another 6 months to get a solution in place that worked. People hated me for it until our manning increased by 30%. I hated that particular job, because I had to fight with every section chief on all three shifts weekly, on top of my other duties. I had to not only keep my squadron commander happy but I had to answer for my Squadron directly from the Maintenance group commander. At his level I saw more of those traits from basic an my knowledge of the USMC. I did my best with the job I was given and I actually had to go with my Chief and Commander to a manning review in DC, from the job I did, I increased our manning but I also justified the expense of a civilian team and them getting approved for 2 more manning slots(a bunch of guys who retired and got hired by Boeing). It definitely helped and my guys didn’t hate me anymore, just that they had to actually do their jobs and keep better time management and recording. After I got hurt and was in my recovery my supervisor recommended me to cross train into a job that would be easier for me to do with a spine injury, so I wouldn’t get medical boarded out of service. My commander told me I would always have a job(…of course she was gone after 2 years and the new guy didn’t know much about me.). After a while we realized the surgeries helped but not enough to keep me in active duty, even if I did get the retraining and I was Medically Retired. I still hate how I went out. I never thought about making it to 40 (or having kids). If I did it was drinking in a base bar in some foreign country. After I joined and began my career my goal was to reach 20 and retire… that was all I wanted. I wanted to have a milestone moment like retirement. I only had graduating basic at that point.
The best part is that the "You wanna live forever?" line is actually from Sparta. Daly was quoting a Spartan general. Just the fact that he was versed enough in history to use the same battle cry as an ancient Spartan general is 🤌🤌🤌 icing on the cake.
To touch on the start of the final thoughts, you may not be a two time Medal of Honor recipient, Terry, but... You do a lot of good being a teacher of history, and from what I can tell, one who is open minded and aiming to teach properly. You're accomplishing more than enough educating the next generation, in my opinion.
Saboton wrote a song about the whole Battle called Devil Dogs. I live in Glen Cove NY where Dan Daly was born and the main road into the city is named for him.
Think about this Dan Daly at Bellow Wood was not put in for 1 MOH but 2. 1st was for taking the machine gun emplacement (which by chance was the same thing Alvin York was given his MOH for in WWI) the 2nd was for the charge he lead. Dan Daly was in fact nominated for 4 MOH's.
A machine gun being submerged for a day along with the ammo shouldn't really suffer any major issues. Just clean it, dry it and oil it quickly before any rust has time to form. The ammo is probably fine because it would be crimped at the case neck and primer pocket during manufacturing. Not to mention the sealant (usually tar based) used to seal off any potential moisture from getting in despite the crimping. The biggest issue would have been the cloth belts. Ammo boxes weren't the metal rubber gasket style we know today. They looked similar but were made of wood and could protect it from rain but were absolutely NOT water tight under submersion. The cloth belts would swell when wet, so they would have pulled the ammo out of the slots and dried the belt by wringing it and hanging it to dry as best they could before reloading the belt.
"Sabaton, you gonna writing a song about this guy?" Dan Daly? I dunno, maybe in the future. The Battle of Belleau wood in general? Yeah, that's "Devil Dogs." I think they did a Sabaton History episode on that too. Edit: Yup, there you are.
Fun fact: That Indiana Jones clip wasn't the original way that scene was supposed to go. Originally it was supposed to be a whip/sword fight. Harrison Ford was sick the day they were to shoot it so they went with just shoot the guy instead.
I believe Harrison was irate about how many takes it was taking and he just said f it and drew n fired. Can't remember where I saw that, but was in a documentary about the movie.
One thing you talked over and missed. Veterans Day is also Dan Daly’s bday. Literally you can go to any bar with Marines and they will be raising a glass with brothers. But there’s always one extra drink raised on Dalys Day. Also Daly’s two units are still active. 2/5 and 2/6 Their two war chants are “RETREAT?” “HELL!” and “Do you want to live forever?!”
One of my favorite Military movies and one that is severely underrated is the movie "55 Days in Peking", that said SgtMaj Daly and General Smedly Butler are both required learning in Marine recruit training, they don't go in depth but go over the basics.
To answer your question about the machine gun and ammo being fully submerged, it depends on a variety of factors i.e. specific gun, type of ammo, how long it was submerged, storage methods of the ammo etc.) but the gun overall theoretically be fine after some quick maintenance which I would assume a decorated Marine like at the time Gunnery SGT Daley would've been. The ammo on the other hand would've been a trickier thing with the water but considering the Marines are an amphibious fighting force I can only assume that they had contingencies in place for submerged ammo.
It’s really cool to watch somebody who knows a lot about the grand scheme of history, but not necessarily to the individual story level, make connections to understand how significant that one person was. Lots of things you hear about in history hinged on the decision of one person at a dire time.
The other person the quote "do you want to live forever?" is attributed to is Prussian King Fredrick II (during the battle of Kolin 1757), so Dan Daly is in very good company there. Of course both events are independent from another and both probably came up with it themselves.
TFE missed thr opportunity with the 1915 story about recovering the machine gun and going offensive mode.... to put up a still from Rambo. Cuz Daly basically was.
To answer your question at 14:06 about the effects water would have on the MG, the ammunition would be fine as each round is airtight, the gun on the other hand (depending on how it was lubricated and the type of lube) would need a quick cleaning to ensure all debris is removed then be re-lubricated but other than that should function fine as it wasn’t submerged long enough for rust to be a factor.
About the submerged Machine Gun the water shouldn’t affect it much in the short term assuming it’s wiped dry. Long term rust would build up and cause problems requiring more cleaning
I just enjoy the fact that the armistice ending World War I was signed on Dan Daly's birthday. ...I wonder if they told Dan Daly jokes back in the day, much the way they tell Chuck Norris jokes these days....
@13:59 - If the ammo has been "crimped" properly, then the ammo is fine several days under water. The the gun is cleaned, dried, and oiled you will not notice a problem.
I'm a Marine combat veteran, and Dan Daly makes me feel like a wuss. Semper Fi to all my devil dogs out there, until we drink a horn in Valhalla. NEVER FORGOTTEN USMC
You asked if we knew about the Boxer Rebellion. Yes. The museum in the Washington, D.C. Navy Yard had (when I was last there) a very good exhibit about the Boxer Rebellion.
No matter what you should absolutely feel blessed to live in a country that truly has never had war brought to our grounds. Not many if any can say that. Alot of countries are always in war. What with deal with day to day is so so much better then majority of the rest of the world.
To answer your question at 14:00, the machine gun and its ammunition being submerged for a few hours wouldn't have much of an effect at all. By 1890, the vast majority of arms used brass cased ammo that was and still is weatherproof; water damage would only occur after being submerged for days to weeks. The machine gun, as long as the barrel was mostly drained and the action cleared of any debris, would run as intended; again, water damage would occur after weeks of being underwater. It might not have the proper lubrication anymore and there's probably sand in it, but it would still run near perfectly after being under water for a few hours.
14:00 depends on how long it was in there, but you're not gonna see much immediate problems with the gun itself if it's cleared properly, and if the ammunition boxes were properly secured, they'd be pretty safe, too.
Machine guns usually don't mind getting wet. The problem comes when the barrel gets clogged up (mud etc...), but even then it usually is no big deal. If it does not seem to work, or jams, take it apart, clean it, oil it, and you're good to go. As for ammo, water doesn't affect it (normally). It is waterproof and works well in general. Long term effects on ammo is oxydation, but even then, rarely affects it. I've fired rounds and weapons wet, you get splattered, but that's it. There are exceptions though, but in general it doesn't make a difference. Combat sergeant, 11 years service
20:20. As a retired infantryman who served in scout and regular roles, you develop a memtality that you are already dead, just living on borrowed time, just to mentally survive the horrors of the battlefield. Even woth that attitude, it still affects you.
From the day a recruit transfers from receiving to training (about a week after arriving at basic) they are taught about four guys. Archibald Henderson, Smedley Butler, Chesty Puller and Dan Daily.
Regarding him carrying nearly twice his body weight on his back. you also have to consider the fact prior to doing this he had been running and fighting for several hours. Added on top of that he then had to travel all the way back there in the dark and spent several hours diving down into the water to find the gear and pull it out of the water. He would’ve been suffering extreme mental and physical exhaustion before he even started carrying all that gear and yet he still managed to get it done.
Not military but firearms enthusiast. A machine gun underwater could face several challenges. The salinity of the water will affect the rate at which the metal rusts. Freshwater for less than a day shouldn't ruin it (every machine gun is different with more info on the specific one I could tell more) I'm assuming it was like a maxim from the description. (Upon research it was a vickers machine gun which was an improved design of the maxim) any gun can fire safely underwater IF it is 100 percent submerged if not the barrel will explode. As for the ammo most military ammo is lacquer sealed to my knowledge. I'm not sure about back in the day but even if it's not sealed the crimp from the projectile and primer are usually firm enough in the case for it to resist water for at least a short time. It should be mostly operational with maybe an occasional misfire because the powder was wet. But even unsealed ammo typically takes a good bit of time before it won't fire from water damage. The gun itself (depending on attachments) weighed 25-30 lbs alone, the tripod weighed 40-50 pounds alone, and the boxes of 250 round ammo belts weighed 22 pounds. If you've ever swam underwater and tried to pick up even a 10 pound weight and swim up with it you'll understand why this is so impressive. I guess the gun would be more buoyant than a weight but definitely not ammo. I found another article where a British vickers was found underwater after 73 years and after a cleaning to remove the rust the gun was fully operational and capable of firing. It was then deactivated and Is now on display at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre
The machine gun needed to be fully "re-built" and re-oiled so that it wouldn't jam. Plus it would have been full of sediment. The Ammo probably also needed to be cleaned up, because its gotta feed properly on the belt.
sooo... small explanation about guns in general when it comes to water: the only issue happens when the gun fires while partially submerged, due to pressure imbalances caused by it being in water partially...
Germans were too used to officers and troops having Revolvers and not knowing the specifics of this new gun. This was before York did his thing that brought it such renown.
Believe sabaton refers directly to Daly with the quote and "when a leader dies a hero will rise" i believe referring to his LT dying putting Daly in charge
Butler was a Soviet stooge. He worked with a Soviet spy to spread propaganda for them. Congressman Dickstien who was on the Soviets payroll spread anti capitalist propaganda
13:57 it would begin. The rusting process, not to mention as the barrel heats up from the firing, would create issues. I am not sure about the ammo beyond the rust issue. I never ran into that in 20 years of service.
15th Infantry spent 38 years in China prior to Ww2. During that time then Colonel George Marshall (later Choef of Staff of the Army and creator of the Marshll plan after ww2) was the regimental commander with Ike as a Battalion Executive Officer.
2/2 weapons Co. Marine Veteran. The Crew served weapon Dan had in Haiti, after being removed from the river, simply would've only needed a Full break down, & cleaning(no more than a few minutes for a detailed task). The Combat load ammunition, would've been crimped in place, & Sealed, through a finishing, & polishing process. Though a few rounds might become duds after being submerged. But generally it should be fine.
The effect of a machine gun (or any firearm) being fully submerged is going to be heavy surface rust. It happens pretty quick, but very easy to deal with. Coat the weapon up with oil once you get it out of the water and you should be good. Ammo on the other can vary. If it’s manufactured well the powder inside should still be dry so it should work just fine if it wasn’t submerged for very long. BUT, in Dan Daly’s case with cartridge ammunition being fairly new in the grand scheme of things they probably had quite a few misfires.
People who go through hell and become severely handicap, yet still keep on going are quite similar mentally. They have made peace with the inevitable and are so much less afraid to accept the end if need be. BTW I have seen this fat electrician in his electrician capacity in iowa here. Wish I could have met him, he would have been a riot!
In casings the powder in guns does not get wet. If a gun has been fully submerged the bullet will still fire underwater because the powder has its own oxidizer and does not need air. Dragging it up on land then firing is a different story. Every drop of water has to be out of the barrel. If that bullet hits a drop of water at the speed it's traveling it would be like hitting a concrete wall, it would expand in the barrel just like it would if it hit something solid. If the barrel is clean though, fire away.
Once the gun is out of the water it'll probably run, they likely broke it down and cleaned it. The metal cased ammo shouldn't have a problem unless it was already defective.
25:20 To answer your question, Yes. Particularly as a Marine vet, it hurts even more thinking about just how incredible Dan Daly was. That Dog had that FIGHT in em 🐂🐶🫡🤫 (you’re “technically not supposed to recruit non-commissioned officers” 🙄) But yeah, he’s one hell of an inspiration, I couldn’t even imagine living that life
13:50 the time it was submerged shouldnt have had any effect on it. it only becomes a problem if its submerged for an extended period of time. sometimes ammo has been submerged for years and is still good
Yes that wall was very fortified. It was designed to defend from enemies attacking from the outside. Problem was Daly was being attacked from the inside.
When it comes to getting the machine gun from the river, I’d say they hopefully had time to disassemble it to clean it promptly, and the ammunition should be fine if it wasn’t submerged for days or anything like that. I think ammo actually stays good in water, that’s why to ruin ammo you have to leave it in boiling water for like an hour
In either case that the m1895 or the hotchkiss m1909 were used, the operability of the gun would probably be fine, seeing as the cartridges are wax coated. They are both gas operated, so the only mechanical worry to have would just be needing to lubricate moving parts. Otherwise, it should be okay. But dust and debris could stick to wet rounds more, so they should probably be cleaned and well dried well before being fed. Otherwise, debris would likely jam the gun after only a couple of seconds of firing.
13:55 Even though we talking about early 20th century’s machine gun, it is not that bad. The machine gun (mostly likely) was put in leather bag before been tied to dead house’s saddle. Water is bad for machine gun in long-term, because it may start rusting. Which eventually will lead to misfiring and other injuries. Same can be happened with dust, mud, overheating and cold. But because sergeant brought this machine gun right before sunrising they had a time to clean, dry and oil both machine gun and ammunition to it.
At this time, the US military has been using brass cartridges for a while. The switch from the paper cartridge was largely to weather proof the ammunition. To my knowlege, there was little to no understanding of just how usefull brass would be in reference to repeating arms. The most effective firearms of the day (1846 for 'modern metallic cartridges') were single shot breach loaders since the 'father of automatic firearms' hadn't been born yet. So the ammunition only being submerged for a few hours wouldn't have much of an effect. Also as a Marine I can tell you we drill with our weapons extensivly, Daly would have known what happens when the machinegun gets wet (it always rains when you are in the field, always). I imagine it would have drip dried on the way back to the Marine's position and Dan Daly would have functions checked it before putting it to work. I don't have the hands on experience with those machine guns (likely the m1895 'potato digger') but from what I know if the action is clear and lubed it should work, provided it doesn't overheat.
So it was at Belleu Woods where the Marines received the nickname Teuful Hunden which means devil dogs. They said that the Marines Eyes made them look like Devil Dogs
During WWI we only sent an Expedtionary Force rather than a full actual Army. It was a mix of Soldiers and Marines. General Pershing was in charge at the time.
Do you wanna live forever?!
Kinda
600 years is my limit. It's long enough to learn all the languages to travel wherever you want to. See the world change eras but not have to deal with the droll of immortality.
If it means that I can impact the world more than I can right now, then maybe.
nah not really
Sure
As a no-longer-active Marine, I can relay that Dan Daly is still, to this day, a legend in the Marine Corps. Every recruit that goes through Boot learns about this man both from Drill Instructors and in the classroom. He, along with many other Marines throughout history, is held up as an exemplar of what a Marine should be, and I am stoked to see his story told to the rest of the world by a storyteller as entertaining as Fat Electrician!
don't forget to say goodnight to Chesty Puller.. wherever he is..
It's been years since I was was at boot camp. Some of those classes and diddys we would scream you never forget though.
@@Eliath1984Also, happy belated birthday to all of the Teufelhunden.
Marine two medals!
Thank you for your service
Gun nut commentary:
The machine guns he would have used would be the Colt-Browning M1895 during the Boxer Rebellion and either the same gun or the Hotchkiss M1909 in Haiti. Both were 1st/2nd gen. machine guns that had major problems, mostly with heating and feeding issues. They were also meant to have a 2 or 3 man crew. The fact he operated and maintained one for an entire night against a mob of fanatics is nothing short of miraculous.
If memory serves, the browning "potatoe digger" was actually ridiculously reliable, as in, if it had water and ammo it could keep firing.
The M1895s used in the Boxer Rebellion were the 6mm Lee variety and proved themselves to be reliable.
Man was putting in some work.
I thought you were going to answer the question in the video. Machinegun and ammo would be fine if at the bottom of a river for a few hours. Just dry it and clean it if you don't want malfunctions. My best guess. 😅👌
@morgankuikka: The main drawback of the otherwise solid PD is that the action was completely exposed, the ammo belts were hard to clear, and the integral barrel was easily overheated. A single solid obstruction or misfire would render it useless until it could be serviced. Field repairs simply weren't a thing back then. A barrel deformation would have outright bricked it. Don't forget, this was a crew served weapon.
@rando: Good catch. The 6mm did fix a lot of the issues, but not all.
@Tommy: Damn right.
@armstrong: Having the gun submerged for a few hours would be a non-issue. The ammo being underwater would only be a minor issue. The belts, however, were made of cloth back then, and if not properly dry, could add significant weight and interfere with the feed. Not to mention, getting everything dried out in a humid Haitian jungle in the middle of the night would be borderline impossible.
I always interpreted “Do you want to live forever?!” as having a double meaning:
1.) Yes, do you really wanna live forever?!
2.) If we do this, our legend will live beyond us.
Same here, I always understood it as the latter
There's a reason we still know the name Achilles. Napoleon. Alexander. Daly.
The latter is exactly what is meant by that phrase. It's just that people today don't talk like that anymore.
Ethos of the United States Marine Corps. They will live forever!
Sounds like a win/win
Sabaton didn't write a song *specifically* about Daly, but they did write one about the Battle of Belleau Wood; the song is called "Devil Dogs", and it has the famous quote attributed to Sergeant Daly!
(To wit: _"Come on, you sons of bitches - do you want to live forever?!"_ )
Which song is that? I have a couple Sabaton albums but still expanding it lol
EDIT- okay my bad you literally titled the song here I’m just too drunk to read properly 🤣
Thanks for the great new song. When it got to the quote in actually gave me chills it’s so good
Honestly, at least a whole verse seems dedicated to him. They did not say his name but I'd say the described him well enough and then quoted him.
In times they are needed, such times they appear
When a leader has fallen, a hero arise
And inspire the lost into glorious deeds that
Would give them a name that live on to this day
When…
In times they are needed, such times they appear
When a leader has fallen, a hero arise
And inspire the lost into glorious deeds that
Would give them a name that live on to this day
Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?
Fun fact: because they included that quote verbatim, they had to have the album it came from (The Great War) marked with a parental advisory label due to the inclusion of that quote on the track "Devil Dogs".
A single line in a single song got the whole album marked as explicit, and none of Sabaton's work has been marked as explicit before or since that album. Let that sink in
It was a water cooled Machinegun most likely, but as long as you dry it off and re-oil it, it's all good, but honestly, just to make it work for what's needed, dry it off and clean off any debris. The ammo was wax sealed, so as long as it wasn't a month, the ammo should be fine.
That's basically what I said in my breakdown. But I also included some info on the procedure for drying out the cloth belts that were undoubtedly soaked and swelled up
@@shockwave6213, I didn't think about the cloth belt. Good catch, I hand loaded one, it SUUUUUUUUUUUCKS, lol, but is WAY easier than hand loading the link belt.
I’m not as familiar with these early guns but the ammo and belt should have been sealed in wooden boxes, which may have protected a few belts from moisture as it was only a few hours
@@jackhull8304, not necessarily, they were by no means waterproof, the bullets were soaked, it just keeps off rain, I have one of those wooden ammo boxes, love it.
@@jackhull8304 The wood boxes aren't water tight. Look up the ammo box for an M1917 Machine Gun and you'll see. The boxes didn't have a rubber gasket like the later steel boxes. Even the German ammo boxes in WW2 didn't have the gasket. That's because Rubber was a rather expensive commodity and it wasn't until BF Goodrich developed a Petroleum based rubber substitute that the sheer amount of rubber needed to make gaskets for billions of ammo boxes was available. Germany made synthetic rubber too but their Oil stockpile wasn't large enough to permit it. Seeing as how these events happened well before synthetic rubber was finally created, they only had the expensive natural stuff to work with
Something that’s over looked is the position from which Dan Daly curbstomped the boxers. It was basically a walkway on a bridge that gave him a Thermopylae type advantage where the rebels had a narrow avenue of approach.
Hence him being able to clear out a large number of them; however there’s a high stat of them that we’re unboxed from this plane of existence.
Thats what happens when you leave and unsupervised marine with a machine gun
I really have enjoyed your videos please keep up the good work
The machine guns being submerged for a night probably had little to no effect on their functionality, all you really need to do is field strip it, clear any dirt/mud from any of the moving parts, and then lube it back up. The speed of the actual cleaning can vary, but most guns field by the military are designed specifically with reliability and ease of cleaning in mind for obvious reasons.
Thank you for explaining
knowing the type that is formally known as him commonly known as the main character and rarely known as dan daly, im sure he did it fast af boi.
seconded. that equipment was pretty reliable in terrible conditions. a quick field strip and it was fine to go. i'd have been more concerned about the cloth belts of the rounds than the gun itself. but if those dried up a bit, you've got a hot weapon.
The "Do you want to live forever" line, in context, was honored in the movie Starship Troopers where the leader of the Main characters unit would use the phrase "Come on you Apes, You wana live forever?!" As a rallying cry.
"Good... Bad... I'm the guy with the gun." - Ash Williams 😁
Shop smart, shop S mart......
"Build a wall and make the Mongols pay for it" is an underratedly funny line. Well played sir
What’s crazy is the last story is easily the most Medal of Honor worthy story and they refused to give him more than 2 MOH’s…but still 2 MOH’s should tell the world how much of a badass you are
Interesting Naval Fact: USS Maine was a type of ship known as an ‘Coastal Defense Battleship’ but was really more along the class and size of an ‘Armored Cruiser’.
She was already woefully obsolete by the time of her deployment to Cuba and in dire need of a refit.
While stationed in the harbor of Havana, on February 15, 1898, a tremendous explosion ripped the ship apart, killing 266 of her 354 crew.
Originally believed to be a mine that sank her, (in fact that was the public opinion that Spain had sunk the ship), investigations conducted around 1910 or thereabouts, confirmed it was in fact a coal bunker explosion that had sunk the ship.
Let's Blame the Maine on Spain!
@@benn454So they blamed the Maine on Spain
@@Drocksas @benn454 Indeed. It was actually before this conflict that famous newspaper illustrator, Frederic Remington, had written his boss, newspaper magnate and owner, William Randolph Hearst, requesting to be removed from Cuba as there was: "All quiet. No trouble here. There will be no war. Wish to return."
Hearst responded with the following: "Please remain. You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war."
One month later, Maine exploded. Remington's illustrations of the ship as she exploded, burned and sank, made front page papers across the nation under the caption: "Remember the Maine! To Hell With Spain!"
Just clean the gun and add lube. The ammo would be fine. Modern cases are crimped water tight.
the biggest concern was probably the swelling of the wet cloth belts. but if those weren't soaked, run em!
Agreed.
As for Sabaton, check out Devil Dogs, that's where Daily's story is at too.
I'm not military(photo is my grandfather from WW2.. sorry for the confusion) but I do know 1 or 2 things about weaponry.. What it would do to a gun and ammo really depends on how long it was submerged for.. Most guns if they are submerged for a short amount of time(ie day or 2) it should pretty much be a clean it real well(no muck left behind).. reoil it.. and the gun itself would be completely fine. if it had been Saltwater the timeline shortens... the Bullets however SHOULD be ok.. but totally depends on how airtight they were. the more water gets into the bullet the higher the likelihood of Dud ammunition that just won't ignite..
Definitely a huge problem for 19th century black powder ammo. Not much of an issue for modern brass cartridges. The biggest concern is salt water corrosion, which happens over long term exposure. Ammo that you're going to expend in a battle the next day? Wipe it off, it'll be fine.
@benn454 exactly my thought... 1-2 days doesn't give the water long enough to penetrate most cartridge rounds.. taking into account that back in 1915 Cartridge rounds were the norm but possible quality control issues I'd say Some ammo probably was ruined but majority was fine to lock and load.. and since it was a river I assume it was probably fresh water..although I could be wrong about that.. I don't know haiti's rivers very well..
@@Eliath1984 I think you're probably right.
i think that quite "do you want to live forever" was both as you put it but also a call to write their name in the history books. which is pretty fucking bad ass
These men dont make me feel like a wussy. I thank God men such as these exist and deserve to be remembered.
The Fat Electrician has really done something amazing with his channel. His delivery is awesome. The USMC has one thing I wish the other branches would adopt, well 2 things. The “Esprit De Corps” is the first. All branches teach new recruits about the history of that particular branch and different wins in battles, and Hero’s along the way. The Marines do it on a much higher level. The Marine Corps ball for example is Huge and celebrated at every MC base worldwide. Other branches have there own annual celebrations but nothing comes remotely close to the Marines. That’s just one aspect of it. The pride each Marine has for the USMC, the aggressiveness for the fight and to the men they fight beside… it’s truly inspiring. The second is the aggressive nature in which they do there job. Other branches might teach recruits to be diligent and by the book and to be proud of your branch and your job, but after training it falls flat on its face and all those things are out the window. I knew a lot about the USMC from stuff I did in High School. And when I decided to join that was my initial choice. But, I had family in the USAF and even Army guys telling me to join the Air Force. I was told a story from a friend. While deployed she had a big screen tv a gaming system and AC in there tent, while the Marines where lucky to have a working AC and even more troops in each tent. I went to the recruiters offices, not knowing what I was going to choose. I decided to go Air Force because of the bases my uncle chose to go to. Germany, Hawaii, California, Florida, and even back to Oklahoma every now and then to be by family. I wanted to travel, and do my part along the way…. I got stuck in Texas for a decade.. In training we where told things like “when you get to the real Air Force” about some of the attention to details, like they would not be the same. But they didn’t explain it to people right. See the reasons we had to do things a certain way wasn’t about BS stuff. It was about the attention to the details of the task. So you would be able to do it accurately and expediently while under duress. Because the tasks we would have to learn when we got to our duty stations where very important and needed to be done by the book. I took that very seriously as I did my place as the new guy and a lower rank compared to guys 2-3 years my junior. I showed the respect for the rank and followed customs and curtesy and stuff like that and always kept my uniform in top shape to include boots. That first couple of years was a difficult time. All those things I liked about The USMC where nonexistent. We where always busy but I swear I saw a lot of people sitting around all week instead of working. Very few people took the initiative to do housekeeping tasks on their Air Craft if they had downtime. Then TH-cam and Facebook hit and could be reached on work computers… so much wasted time. When we had low manning and we where stuck on 12’s at home station, people only complained about it. It took me almost a year to figure out why it was happening in our shop but for our entire squadron…. It was one of those little attention to details that people just blew off. It took me another 6 months to get a solution in place that worked. People hated me for it until our manning increased by 30%. I hated that particular job, because I had to fight with every section chief on all three shifts weekly, on top of my other duties. I had to not only keep my squadron commander happy but I had to answer for my Squadron directly from the Maintenance group commander. At his level I saw more of those traits from basic an my knowledge of the USMC. I did my best with the job I was given and I actually had to go with my Chief and Commander to a manning review in DC, from the job I did, I increased our manning but I also justified the expense of a civilian team and them getting approved for 2 more manning slots(a bunch of guys who retired and got hired by Boeing). It definitely helped and my guys didn’t hate me anymore, just that they had to actually do their jobs and keep better time management and recording. After I got hurt and was in my recovery my supervisor recommended me to cross train into a job that would be easier for me to do with a spine injury, so I wouldn’t get medical boarded out of service. My commander told me I would always have a job(…of course she was gone after 2 years and the new guy didn’t know much about me.). After a while we realized the surgeries helped but not enough to keep me in active duty, even if I did get the retraining and I was Medically Retired. I still hate how I went out. I never thought about making it to 40 (or having kids). If I did it was drinking in a base bar in some foreign country. After I joined and began my career my goal was to reach 20 and retire… that was all I wanted. I wanted to have a milestone moment like retirement. I only had graduating basic at that point.
The best part is that the "You wanna live forever?" line is actually from Sparta. Daly was quoting a Spartan general. Just the fact that he was versed enough in history to use the same battle cry as an ancient Spartan general is 🤌🤌🤌 icing on the cake.
To touch on the start of the final thoughts, you may not be a two time Medal of Honor recipient, Terry, but... You do a lot of good being a teacher of history, and from what I can tell, one who is open minded and aiming to teach properly. You're accomplishing more than enough educating the next generation, in my opinion.
Saboton wrote a song about the whole Battle called Devil Dogs. I live in Glen Cove NY where Dan Daly was born and the main road into the city is named for him.
Did a very nice job of adding additional context. Easy to see why you were granted MFHSHT Status (Most Favored High School History Teacher).
Michael Ironside in Starship Troopers spouts "Do you want to live forever".
Thank you History Teachers like you make sure we're not all blind and keeps it fun in the levity of the time.
Hearing you react was like having flashbacks to my own high school history classes in the best possible way. Thank you for sharing with us!
Dan Daly, one of the pinnacle people that makes up Marine lore
Think about this Dan Daly at Bellow Wood was not put in for 1 MOH but 2. 1st was for taking the machine gun emplacement (which by chance was the same thing Alvin York was given his MOH for in WWI) the 2nd was for the charge he lead.
Dan Daly was in fact nominated for 4 MOH's.
I've always interpreted that "Do you want to live forever" line as "Let's write our names into the history books," thereby becoming immortal in a way.
A machine gun being submerged for a day along with the ammo shouldn't really suffer any major issues. Just clean it, dry it and oil it quickly before any rust has time to form. The ammo is probably fine because it would be crimped at the case neck and primer pocket during manufacturing. Not to mention the sealant (usually tar based) used to seal off any potential moisture from getting in despite the crimping. The biggest issue would have been the cloth belts. Ammo boxes weren't the metal rubber gasket style we know today. They looked similar but were made of wood and could protect it from rain but were absolutely NOT water tight under submersion. The cloth belts would swell when wet, so they would have pulled the ammo out of the slots and dried the belt by wringing it and hanging it to dry as best they could before reloading the belt.
20:08 I always thought that meant do you want to live forever in history.
"Sabaton, you gonna writing a song about this guy?"
Dan Daly? I dunno, maybe in the future. The Battle of Belleau wood in general? Yeah, that's "Devil Dogs." I think they did a Sabaton History episode on that too.
Edit: Yup, there you are.
Fun fact: That Indiana Jones clip wasn't the original way that scene was supposed to go. Originally it was supposed to be a whip/sword fight. Harrison Ford was sick the day they were to shoot it so they went with just shoot the guy instead.
I believe Harrison was irate about how many takes it was taking and he just said f it and drew n fired. Can't remember where I saw that, but was in a documentary about the movie.
One thing you talked over and missed. Veterans Day is also Dan Daly’s bday. Literally you can go to any bar with Marines and they will be raising a glass with brothers. But there’s always one extra drink raised on Dalys Day. Also Daly’s two units are still active. 2/5 and 2/6 Their two war chants are “RETREAT?” “HELL!” and “Do you want to live forever?!”
One of my favorite Military movies and one that is severely underrated is the movie "55 Days in Peking", that said SgtMaj Daly and General Smedly Butler are both required learning in Marine recruit training, they don't go in depth but go over the basics.
19:41 theirs a song about the marines but has his quotes
To answer your question about the machine gun and ammo being fully submerged, it depends on a variety of factors i.e. specific gun, type of ammo, how long it was submerged, storage methods of the ammo etc.) but the gun overall theoretically be fine after some quick maintenance which I would assume a decorated Marine like at the time Gunnery SGT Daley would've been. The ammo on the other hand would've been a trickier thing with the water but considering the Marines are an amphibious fighting force I can only assume that they had contingencies in place for submerged ammo.
Just glad a history teacher in America is interested in American History. Keep enriching my guy we need our next generation to be smarter
It’s really cool to watch somebody who knows a lot about the grand scheme of history, but not necessarily to the individual story level, make connections to understand how significant that one person was. Lots of things you hear about in history hinged on the decision of one person at a dire time.
The other person the quote "do you want to live forever?" is attributed to is Prussian King Fredrick II (during the battle of Kolin 1757), so Dan Daly is in very good company there.
Of course both events are independent from another and both probably came up with it themselves.
They used the line in Starship Troopers in the form "come on apes you wanna live forever"
There was a 1965 movie starting Charlton Heston and David Niven about the Boxer Rebellion called 55 Days at Peking.
TFE missed thr opportunity with the 1915 story about recovering the machine gun and going offensive mode.... to put up a still from Rambo.
Cuz Daly basically was.
To answer your question at 14:06 about the effects water would have on the MG, the ammunition would be fine as each round is airtight, the gun on the other hand (depending on how it was lubricated and the type of lube) would need a quick cleaning to ensure all debris is removed then be re-lubricated but other than that should function fine as it wasn’t submerged long enough for rust to be a factor.
About the submerged Machine Gun the water shouldn’t affect it much in the short term assuming it’s wiped dry. Long term rust would build up and cause problems requiring more cleaning
I just enjoy the fact that the armistice ending World War I was signed on Dan Daly's birthday.
...I wonder if they told Dan Daly jokes back in the day, much the way they tell Chuck Norris jokes these days....
@13:59 - If the ammo has been "crimped" properly, then the ammo is fine several days under water. The the gun is cleaned, dried, and oiled you will not notice a problem.
Aww, you missed the best part of the Starship Troopers bit. "I expect the best, and i give the best. HERE'S THE BEER!"
I'm a Marine combat veteran, and Dan Daly makes me feel like a wuss. Semper Fi to all my devil dogs out there, until we drink a horn in Valhalla. NEVER FORGOTTEN USMC
You asked if we knew about the Boxer Rebellion.
Yes. The museum in the Washington, D.C. Navy Yard had (when I was last there) a very good exhibit about the Boxer Rebellion.
No matter what you should absolutely feel blessed to live in a country that truly has never had war brought to our grounds. Not many if any can say that. Alot of countries are always in war. What with deal with day to day is so so much better then majority of the rest of the world.
Nick/The Fat Electrician is the history teacher we all needed in school.
To answer your question at 14:00, the machine gun and its ammunition being submerged for a few hours wouldn't have much of an effect at all. By 1890, the vast majority of arms used brass cased ammo that was and still is weatherproof; water damage would only occur after being submerged for days to weeks. The machine gun, as long as the barrel was mostly drained and the action cleared of any debris, would run as intended; again, water damage would occur after weeks of being underwater. It might not have the proper lubrication anymore and there's probably sand in it, but it would still run near perfectly after being under water for a few hours.
last year i bought my STEAL shirt from TFE! nic is a badass presenter, and a medic, which automatically earns this vet's respect! love this guys stuff
14:00 depends on how long it was in there, but you're not gonna see much immediate problems with the gun itself if it's cleared properly, and if the ammunition boxes were properly secured, they'd be pretty safe, too.
Machine guns usually don't mind getting wet. The problem comes when the barrel gets clogged up (mud etc...), but even then it usually is no big deal. If it does not seem to work, or jams, take it apart, clean it, oil it, and you're good to go. As for ammo, water doesn't affect it (normally). It is waterproof and works well in general. Long term effects on ammo is oxydation, but even then, rarely affects it. I've fired rounds and weapons wet, you get splattered, but that's it. There are exceptions though, but in general it doesn't make a difference. Combat sergeant, 11 years service
"HOW?!"
Badassery. They saw Death approach them and wisely surrendered. That's how.
20:20. As a retired infantryman who served in scout and regular roles, you develop a memtality that you are already dead, just living on borrowed time, just to mentally survive the horrors of the battlefield. Even woth that attitude, it still affects you.
From the day a recruit transfers from receiving to training (about a week after arriving at basic) they are taught about four guys. Archibald Henderson, Smedley Butler, Chesty Puller and Dan Daily.
And A.A. Cunningham.
6:49 “Build the wall and make the Mongol’s pay for it” I just finished taking a drink after that, thankfully, because I spit and choked in laughter
Regarding him carrying nearly twice his body weight on his back. you also have to consider the fact prior to doing this he had been running and fighting for several hours. Added on top of that he then had to travel all the way back there in the dark and spent several hours diving down into the water to find the gear and pull it out of the water. He would’ve been suffering extreme mental and physical exhaustion before he even started carrying all that gear and yet he still managed to get it done.
Could you do some more vlog field trips? Your channel is great, love the content. The field trips to historic locations especially are really cool
Not military but firearms enthusiast. A machine gun underwater could face several challenges. The salinity of the water will affect the rate at which the metal rusts. Freshwater for less than a day shouldn't ruin it (every machine gun is different with more info on the specific one I could tell more) I'm assuming it was like a maxim from the description. (Upon research it was a vickers machine gun which was an improved design of the maxim) any gun can fire safely underwater IF it is 100 percent submerged if not the barrel will explode. As for the ammo most military ammo is lacquer sealed to my knowledge. I'm not sure about back in the day but even if it's not sealed the crimp from the projectile and primer are usually firm enough in the case for it to resist water for at least a short time. It should be mostly operational with maybe an occasional misfire because the powder was wet. But even unsealed ammo typically takes a good bit of time before it won't fire from water damage. The gun itself (depending on attachments) weighed 25-30 lbs alone, the tripod weighed 40-50 pounds alone, and the boxes of 250 round ammo belts weighed 22 pounds. If you've ever swam underwater and tried to pick up even a 10 pound weight and swim up with it you'll understand why this is so impressive. I guess the gun would be more buoyant than a weight but definitely not ammo. I found another article where a British vickers was found underwater after 73 years and after a cleaning to remove the rust the gun was fully operational and capable of firing. It was then deactivated and Is now on display at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre
The machine gun needed to be fully "re-built" and re-oiled so that it wouldn't jam. Plus it would have been full of sediment. The Ammo probably also needed to be cleaned up, because its gotta feed properly on the belt.
I was not prepared for the Jokic mvp comparison. 😂 almost choked on my water
sooo... small explanation about guns in general when it comes to water: the only issue happens when the gun fires while partially submerged, due to pressure imbalances caused by it being in water partially...
So glad to see this episode. Fat Electrician is awesome
The Colt 1911 in WW1 only held 7 rounds, and Gunny Daly had already shot their commander, so he took 15 men hostage with 6 or less rounds.
Germans were too used to officers and troops having Revolvers and not knowing the specifics of this new gun. This was before York did his thing that brought it such renown.
@@kevinimperati8644 Germany adopted the Luger in 1904 and used the Bordschardt before that, they were well acquainted with semi auto pistols
Dan Daly was like Gandalf in the sense of YOU SHALL NOT PASS
Believe sabaton refers directly to Daly with the quote and "when a leader dies a hero will rise" i believe referring to his LT dying putting Daly in charge
I know one thing. Back then the belts for the machinegun would have been cloth. Cloth doesn't like to be wet.
Great video. I also love "The Fat Electrician's" videos.
I made the incredible mistake of going to the bar on the marine corps birthday. Funnest night ive ever had and one i dont want to do again
2 Marines! 2 Medals! Dan Daly and Smedley Butler!
LOUDER!!!! 2 MARINES 2 MEDALS?!
DAN DALY AND SMEDLEY BUTLER, SIR!!
Butler was a Soviet stooge. He worked with a Soviet spy to spread propaganda for them. Congressman Dickstien who was on the Soviets payroll spread anti capitalist propaganda
Dan Daly is mentioned in the Sabaton history episode for Devil Dogs.
You should do a video about the ghurkas. I worked with some of them in Afghanistan, I'm not a man prone to fear, but those guys terrified me.
13:57 it would begin. The rusting process, not to mention as the barrel heats up from the firing, would create issues. I am not sure about the ammo beyond the rust issue. I never ran into that in 20 years of service.
This guy needs a movie!!!
15th Infantry spent 38 years in China prior to Ww2. During that time then Colonel George Marshall (later Choef of Staff of the Army and creator of the Marshll plan after ww2) was the regimental commander with Ike as a Battalion Executive Officer.
My favorite part of this video, is that oh shit moment. “Oh that’s him…” referring to “Come on you Sons of Bitches! Do you want to live forever?!”
the fact that you, a TH-cam history content creator, are wearing merch from another, history content creator is just fantastic.
2/2 weapons Co. Marine Veteran. The Crew served weapon Dan had in Haiti, after being removed from the river, simply would've only needed a Full break down, & cleaning(no more than a few minutes for a detailed task). The Combat load ammunition, would've been crimped in place, & Sealed, through a finishing, & polishing process. Though a few rounds might become duds after being submerged. But generally it should be fine.
The effect of a machine gun (or any firearm) being fully submerged is going to be heavy surface rust. It happens pretty quick, but very easy to deal with. Coat the weapon up with oil once you get it out of the water and you should be good.
Ammo on the other can vary. If it’s manufactured well the powder inside should still be dry so it should work just fine if it wasn’t submerged for very long. BUT, in Dan Daly’s case with cartridge ammunition being fairly new in the grand scheme of things they probably had quite a few misfires.
People who go through hell and become severely handicap, yet still keep on going are quite similar mentally. They have made peace with the inevitable and are so much less afraid to accept the end if need be. BTW I have seen this fat electrician in his electrician capacity in iowa here. Wish I could have met him, he would have been a riot!
In casings the powder in guns does not get wet. If a gun has been fully submerged the bullet will still fire underwater because the powder has its own oxidizer and does not need air. Dragging it up on land then firing is a different story. Every drop of water has to be out of the barrel. If that bullet hits a drop of water at the speed it's traveling it would be like hitting a concrete wall, it would expand in the barrel just like it would if it hit something solid. If the barrel is clean though, fire away.
Once the gun is out of the water it'll probably run, they likely broke it down and cleaned it. The metal cased ammo shouldn't have a problem unless it was already defective.
25:20
To answer your question,
Yes. Particularly as a Marine vet, it hurts even more thinking about just how incredible Dan Daly was. That Dog had that FIGHT in em 🐂🐶🫡🤫 (you’re “technically not supposed to recruit non-commissioned officers” 🙄)
But yeah, he’s one hell of an inspiration, I couldn’t even imagine living that life
13:50 the time it was submerged shouldnt have had any effect on it. it only becomes a problem if its submerged for an extended period of time. sometimes ammo has been submerged for years and is still good
Yes that wall was very fortified. It was designed to defend from enemies attacking from the outside.
Problem was Daly was being attacked from the inside.
Dan Daly and Chesty Puller, two legends we used to sing about in the Corps. I've been out for over a decade so who knows what they are doing now?
I love history mad respect to you as a teacher
When it comes to getting the machine gun from the river, I’d say they hopefully had time to disassemble it to clean it promptly, and the ammunition should be fine if it wasn’t submerged for days or anything like that. I think ammo actually stays good in water, that’s why to ruin ammo you have to leave it in boiling water for like an hour
In either case that the m1895 or the hotchkiss m1909 were used, the operability of the gun would probably be fine, seeing as the cartridges are wax coated. They are both gas operated, so the only mechanical worry to have would just be needing to lubricate moving parts. Otherwise, it should be okay. But dust and debris could stick to wet rounds more, so they should probably be cleaned and well dried well before being fed. Otherwise, debris would likely jam the gun after only a couple of seconds of firing.
Only historians and Marines know about this. I was 5'7 125 lbs when I arrived at Parris Island his story always stuck with me.
13:55
Even though we talking about early 20th century’s machine gun, it is not that bad.
The machine gun (mostly likely) was put in leather bag before been tied to dead house’s saddle.
Water is bad for machine gun in long-term, because it may start rusting. Which eventually will lead to misfiring and other injuries.
Same can be happened with dust, mud, overheating and cold.
But because sergeant brought this machine gun right before sunrising they had a time to clean, dry and oil both machine gun and ammunition to it.
I have all of TFE merch and it's all quality stuff. Another great react video.
It's people like Dan Daly who make the rest of us realize just how little we have accomplished under far less harrowing and dangerous conditions.
At this time, the US military has been using brass cartridges for a while. The switch from the paper cartridge was largely to weather proof the ammunition. To my knowlege, there was little to no understanding of just how usefull brass would be in reference to repeating arms. The most effective firearms of the day (1846 for 'modern metallic cartridges') were single shot breach loaders since the 'father of automatic firearms' hadn't been born yet. So the ammunition only being submerged for a few hours wouldn't have much of an effect. Also as a Marine I can tell you we drill with our weapons extensivly, Daly would have known what happens when the machinegun gets wet (it always rains when you are in the field, always). I imagine it would have drip dried on the way back to the Marine's position and Dan Daly would have functions checked it before putting it to work. I don't have the hands on experience with those machine guns (likely the m1895 'potato digger') but from what I know if the action is clear and lubed it should work, provided it doesn't overheat.
So it was at Belleu Woods where the Marines received the nickname Teuful Hunden which means devil dogs. They said that the Marines Eyes made them look like Devil Dogs
During WWI we only sent an Expedtionary Force rather than a full actual Army. It was a mix of Soldiers and Marines. General Pershing was in charge at the time.