“That’s Fronkensteen”.
Long before he was spoofing Hitler, he was over there actually trying to kill Hitler.
Mel’s funniest war story
I was a corporal in World War II. One day, I took eight guys out on a scouting mission, and we found a box of German rifles. Nearby, there were telephone polls with the ceramic insulators at the top. So I say, “A buck a piece—whoever can knock off the most insulators gets the pot.” We grab the rifles and start shooting. Somebody from Arkansas—they know how to do it—knocked off all of them and gets the nine bucks. When we get back to our base, sirens are going off. Everybody’s running around. I see my sergeant and ask what’s going on. He says, “Communications have been cut off between the 7th Army and the 26th Corps. All the telephone lines are down. We think there are snipers and we’re getting a patrol together to find them.” Now, I’m a little scared. I know exactly who’s at fault. So I said, “Okay, count me in.” and out I went again. We never did find them.
I saw Mel at one of those special screenings of Young Frankenstein. He spoke for an hour after and told a story about singing Toot Toot Tootsie goodbye to the German troops across the river. He was great.
My late father-in-law served in a 105mm field artillery battalion in the 78th “Lightning” Division during WWII. The division was on the very north edge of the Bulge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/78th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)
As a side note, in the original “Battlestar Galactica” TV series, the crew of one of the ships wore the 78th’ patch on their uniforms.
After attending Abraham Lincoln High School for a year, Brooks graduated from Eastern District High School and then spent a year at Brooklyn College as a psychology major before being drafted into the army in 1944.
He was placed in the Army Specialized Training Program and sent to the Virginia Military Institute to be taught skills such as military engineering and later underwent basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
He served in the United States Army as a corporal in the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion, 78th Infantry Division, defusing land mines as the allies advanced into Germany during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Brooks
Combat veteran of WWII. Yet another reason to love Mel Brooks for all his wonderful politically incorrect films. He knew what the Nazis and their descendants in today’s PC fascist movement are all about.
Geez, I didn’t even know about his combat record.
“Springtime for Hitler” is an undying classic.