Post flagpole rumor

[MuleTheDestroyer]

i have been hearing several versions of this story since I came in. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was true or not"

There are three items in the truck: a razor, a match, and a .45 round. In time of distress, the commander would push the flagpole towards the north, knocking it over and shattering the truck. He would then cut the stars and stripes from the flag, and burn the pieces, ensuring that the flag could not be captured.

He would then dig (some say where the truck lands, some say under the base) until he found a Colt .45. He would then load the round and commit suicide, ensuring that the unit's secrets could not be captured.

As you can tell, this is a very old story, and could be close to an urban legend since no one seems to be abel to verify the exacts of the process. In any event, you can imagine why this practice is no longer used today.

Here's what I think. Sometime in the last few years, someone has to have replaced a flagpole truck, somewhere. Between the tornados that hit Sill every twenty minutes and the hurricanes that go from FL to VA, at least one lowest-bidder-built flagpole has gone over. I'd like to hear from whoever put up the new one, or re-erected the old one. Or, if there's a post CG reading this anywhere that may know the answer. --- off militarystudyguide.com

[River_Rat_459]

I've heard this before. Your answers are here: http://www.snopes.com/military/flagball.asp

[saviger]

not sure if its true or not, but I do remember it being in the offical Army study guide, and being asked that question on the E-5 board and then again on the NCO of the month board. Along with the locations of the 8 Spanish cannons on Ft.Lewis. :roll:

[MuleTheDestroyer]

thanks River Rat. it did seem pretty outlandish and probably not true, but the military does like old taditions (like what side of a person who outranks me i am supposed to be walking on). theres a lot of these that everyone has heard and people assume are true. I was wondering if anyone knew where this started. heres some other stuff I hear in the army that isn't true too.

Using a cell phone or radio at the pump causes the pump to 'splode

daddy long legs spiders are the most venomous spider but the fangs are too small to pierce the skin (not venomous, not a spider)

And 100 things about the camel spider

Lighting C-4 on fire and stomping on it makes it 'splode

Kevlar stops knives (had a guy in my company test that out in the barracks = puntured lung)

You can light a cigarette buy shining 12 PEQ 2's at the end of it.

Anybody got anymore of these?

[River_Rat_459]

Haven't heard about a lot of those, but I'd highly really recommend trying Snopes.com. They do a good job of keeping up on this kind of stuff.

[jack]

the gas pump one is true, the static charge in the phone can ignite the gasoline fume's and poof instant flambé.

[squidfamily1]

the gas pump one is true, the static charge in the phone can ignite the gasoline fume's and poof instant flambé.

true

[MaximusR3]

daddy long legs spiders are the most venomous spider but the fangs are too small to pierce the skin (not venomous, not a spider)

that one is partially true. It depends on what it is that someone is calling a daddy long leg. often people refer to the harvestman as a daddy long leg but they are indeed not spiders nor are they venomous. Other people will call Crane flies, or Mosquito hawks (that's what my family always called them. they look like big drunken flying bugs that look sort of like big mosquitoes, which do NOT eat mosquitoes btw, although i was also commonly told that) daddy long legs but again, not a spider and not venomous. The last common thing called a daddy long leg lives primarily indoors and is in fact a spider and is venomous, as all spiders are. The strength of the venom is not much though, being a little weaker than the average spiders venom. I think the "fangs are too small" legend comes from the recluse spider, since they have fairly small fangs and have a harder time biting a human than the average spider

The differences are easy to spot out of you know what you're looking for and i would just post up some pictures for everyone's general knowledge but looking at big pictures of spiders sort of makes my skin crawl so i'd rather not. The best way i can explain is the harvestman has only one body segment, just an oval shape with 8 legs coming out and only has 2 eyes. They live outdoors and i used to see them in great big clusters on the side of my garage. The Mosquito hawk has wings and flies so that one is easy and probably the least commonly mistaken one. And the true daddy long leg, the house spider or pholcid spider, has the traditional spider anatomy with small body and larger abdomen and hangs out on it's web in corners of the ceiling and out of the way places


don't we all feel a little more educated now? :mrgreen:

[USMCramirez]

please let the PEQ one be true...We all got those fancy new PEQ-16s too.

[Amiable Horde]

daddy long legs spiders are the most venomous spider but the fangs are too small to pierce the skin (not venomous, not a spider)

that one is partially true. It depends on what it is that someone is calling a daddy long leg. often people refer to the harvestman as a daddy long leg but they are indeed not spiders nor are they venomous. Other people will call Crane flies, or Mosquito hawks (that's what my family always called them. they look like big drunken flying bugs that look sort of like big mosquitoes, which do NOT eat mosquitoes btw, although i was also commonly told that) daddy long legs but again, not a spider and not venomous. The last common thing called a daddy long leg lives primarily indoors and is in fact a spider and is venomous, as all spiders are. The strength of the venom is not much though, being a little weaker than the average spiders venom. I think the "fangs are too small" legend comes from the recluse spider, since they have fairly small fangs and have a harder time biting a human than the average spider

The differences are easy to spot out of you know what you're looking for and i would just post up some pictures for everyone's general knowledge but looking at big pictures of spiders sort of makes my skin crawl so i'd rather not. The best way i can explain is the harvestman has only one body segment, just an oval shape with 8 legs coming out and only has 2 eyes. They live outdoors and i used to see them in great big clusters on the side of my garage. The Mosquito hawk has wings and flies so that one is easy and probably the least commonly mistaken one. And the true daddy long leg, the house spider or pholcid spider, has the traditional spider anatomy with small body and larger abdomen and hangs out on it's web in corners of the ceiling and out of the way places


don't we all feel a little more educated now? :mrgreen:

Where exactly did you learn all this?

and mythbusters doesn't count.

[MaximusR3]

researched it a while back. I was skeptic the first time someone told me daddy long legs were highly venomous so i let google be my guide on the road to knowledge :idea:

[ASignorelli]

I remember hearing this at Fort Campbell, and I thin it's for every post.

[USMCramirez]

^agreed. when i had it on mine, it was all that + instructions on what to do with the flag.

[MuleTheDestroyer]

the gas pump one is true, the static charge in the phone can ignite the gasoline fume's and poof instant flambé.

I hate to say you are wrong or cause on argument. But you are wrong. Totally wrong. Your phone is attached to you and therefore has the same charge as the rest of your body. Accidents can be caused by normal static discharge that a person builds up (especially in winter when people wear a lot of clothing and the dry air allows for the charge to build). Or when they do something silly like fill plastic gas cans in the bed of their pickup while they are also sitting in the bed of their pickup. Your cell phone emits a maximimum of 250 mW of microwave energy and is neglegible compared to other energy sources (like the sun, the gas pump, and commercial radio and television towers).

I am not saying that accidents dont happen, they do. I am saying that cell phones have nothing to do with it. As a safety note though, always ground yourself before fueling (touch your car), dont get back in your car while you are fueling, and always place fuel containers on the ground while filling them. There are many examples on you tube for what can happen if you do not follow these guidelines. Also, mythbusters and a news agency have covered it, also available on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ0aTMMITp8

[MaximusR3]

the gas pump one is true, the static charge in the phone can ignite the gasoline fume's and poof instant flambé.

I hate to say you are wrong or cause on argument. But you are wrong. Totally wrong. Your phone is attached to you and therefore has the same charge as the rest of your body. Accidents can be caused by normal static discharge that a person builds up (especially in winter when people wear a lot of clothing and the dry air allows for the charge to build). Or when they do something silly like fill plastic gas cans in the bed of their pickup while they are also sitting in the bed of their pickup. Your cell phone emits a maximimum of 250 mW of microwave energy and is neglegible compared to other energy sources (like the sun, the gas pump, and commercial radio and television towers).

I am not saying that accidents dont happen, they do. I am saying that cell phones have nothing to do with it. As a safety note though, always ground yourself before fueling (touch your car), dont get back in your car while you are fueling, and always place fuel containers on the ground while filling them. There are many examples on you tube for what can happen if you do not follow these guidelines. Also, mythbusters and a news agency have covered it, also available on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ0aTMMITp8

It seems odd then, if it is not even partially true, that on every gas pump here there are stickers that say no smoking, turn off your engine, and no cellphones. then there is a list of don'ts with those things repeated and then the other things you mentioned, like filling gas cans on a plastic bed liner and getting back in your vehicle.

[indyred99]

We had a hazmat class on base last year and the FD said those signs are pointless. It's just that they were once believed to cause an explosion. I have also heard though about that not being able to cause an explosion before that class.

Sent from my Eris using Tapatalk

[MuleTheDestroyer]

I have been trying to find an actual answer to this, and I come across the same 2 basic answers:
1. It's true, had it for a board question, heard from the CSM, I know a guy who knew a guy who read it in a thing...
2. It's not true, cause it really doesn't seem like a thing that would actually happen if you think about it.

Somebody somewhere's has to know a CG or a fag pole installer, or been to a ceremonial installation opening/founding that knows for sure. My 1SG and everybody else i ask thats been in awhile has heard this, but nobody knows where it comes from. Does anybody know for sure whether or not this is true?

[saviger]

Does anybody know for sure whether or not this is true?

It is 100% true on Ft.Lewis dont know about any of the other posts.

[Timmy_2_Tones]

It is 100% true on Ft.Lewis dont know about any of the other posts.

Proof? Not that I don't trust your word, we need proof in a case like this.

[jxspyder]

Does anybody know for sure whether or not this is true?

It is 100% true on Ft.Lewis dont know about any of the other posts.

It is? You'd think they'd have layed out the parade field differently if that were the case.