Posted on 03/16/2018 5:35:30 AM PDT by C19fan
"7 Days in Entebbe" (now in theaters) tells the story of Operation Thunderbolt, the daring 1976 rescue of 94 Israeli passengers and 12 crew members from an Air France grounded in Uganda after a hijacking by German PLO sympathizers. Inspired by the movie, we've got a list of the ten greatest operation names in military history.
The Entebbe raid was an enormous story back in 1976, so big that is wasn't totally overshadowed by the fact that the raid took place on the American Bicentennial on July 4, 1976. The popular fascination with the successful raid inspired two better-than-average, all-star TV movies that fall: "Victory at Entebbe" (starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Dreyfuss, Kirk Douglas, Helen Hayes, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Hopkins and Linda Blair) and "Raid on Entebbe" (starring Charles Bronson, Peter Finch, Jack Warden, James Woods, Sylvia Sidney and Martin Balsam. Plus Irvin Kershner of "The Empire Strikes Back" directed).
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
I always thought “Overlord” and “Rolling Thunder” sounded cool as hell.
“Rolling Thunder” has to be the most overhyped name in military history. It conveys the USAF would carpet bomb North Vietnam starting from the DMZ up to Hanoi but no LBJ had to give the ok for an outhouse to be bombed.
His micromanagement of targeting was part of the problem, the other part was that he preferred to bomb jungle and outhouses instead of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese lines of communication.
Barbarossa.
At the start of the last Iraq war I was working on an invasion plan for Bagdad that I had tentatively named “Operation Pork Pie Hat” - but DARPA wouldn’t even return my phone calls...
Operation Exploding Crapper?
Have a special attachment to Operation Texas Star. Not only am I a Texan but I was there with the 101st. We lost almost 400 men and had damn near 2000 wounded.
I like “Operation Wetback”, but it wasn’t a military operation so it really doesn’t belong here.
Operation Bagration
Oh so true about LBJ’s absolute control of Rolling Thunder’s operations from the safety of the White House half a world away.
IMHO the author’s missed a much more important Vietnam era campaign - LINEBACKER II. In three weeks US air assets, including B-52s, accomplished what LBJ was unable do in 3 1/2 years! More importantly the North Vietnamese KNEW they had lost and were begging for the resumption of the Paris peace talks on American Terms.
Too bad the authors of this article went for “cool names” in stead of successful operations with major military and political impacts. IMHO “cool” is a weather condition not the effects of a military operation!
Operation Sleepy Weasel
The Soviets also like to use names of Russian Generals, such as Bagration, Kutuzov, Suvorov, and Rumyantsev.
What happened was that the Democratic Congress refused to give the South Vietnamese military support to which they were entitled and left them at the mercy of the communists supported by China and Russia. The fact is that the bastards betrayed an ally.
Whoever wrote this crap needs to be fired. Military.com better do a better job
Operation MINCEMEAT
Small operation, big effects...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat
“Ivy Bells” has to be one of the oddest. It sounds like a Christmas carol.
Had to educate myself on that one, WOW!! Thank you very much for your service. Your lost souls are also true heroes.
Operation Ten Plagues 15–22 October 1948
Operation Anaconda.
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