We had a real character at NASA who was an older Word War II veteran. (see note). He was full of wild tales but damn-it-all we could never prove any of them wrong.(note #2) One recurring theme was his time in Burma training what he called WOGs (Westernized Oriental Gentlemen according to him), Asian soldiers attached to his unit. He often told us how good he was at throwing knives which he claimed was faster then getting a shot off. The knife was carried over a shoulder butt forward so it could be grabbed and thrown in one motion.
His best story was the time his unit was getting shelled by artillery in the field. A shell burst nearby and he instinctively jumped into a 20 foot long trench at the same time as a North Korean? Japanese? soldier jumped into the other end. They spotted each other and both lowered their rifles, took a hasty shot and jumped out of the trench. They missed. After a pause he would give us the thousand yard stare and say, “I should’a used my knife”.
Note: When the NACA, later NASA, was formed many ex servicemen applied. They got what was called “veterans preference” on the civil service exam, a 5 point bonus. The test wasn’t all that hard anyway (I aced it) and this meant that many of the technicians and their supervisors at NASA in the 1960s when I was hired were rather crude individuals. And the good ol’ boy network assured that many became section heads and division chiefs. Not what you would expect at NASA. But damn, I have a lot of war stories!
Note #2: Another tale he told was of helping the Maserati team racing at Indianapolis. The crew chief was named “Cotton” Hemming and was his friend. He had a piston he claimed was from the Maserati. None of us believed him. One time I took up a linoleum floor in my house and underneath were newspapers from the 1940s in perfect condition. On the sports page was a photo of the Indy race car and crew chief, Cotton Hemming”. I took the photo into work to show him and as I drew near his bench he exclaimed, “Cotton!” I dunno.
Whether you realize it or not, and no matter how you explain it, this is widely considered a racial slur. Please refrain from using the term, ‘WOG,’ in future when referring to Asians.
I worked with one guy who claimed, when he was in the Navy and his ship was sunk, he rode into port on the back of a whale. This guy also claimed that blackberry brandy was a cure for diarrhea.
I worked with another guy who claimed to have run grenades in Serbia, dated a female wrestler, and met Doc Watson.
NACA was formed in 1915. It was famously quite active during World War II (responsible for a lot of the aviation technology that made its way into the incredible jump in the quality and effectiveness of warplanes during that war).
NACA would probably have been willing to hire WWII veterans pretty briskly, and NASA (formed in 1958) would have continued that trend, including Korean Conflict veterans.
There was a guy in my high school archery team that would tell the wildest tales and in the pre-Internet era, we couldn’t prove him wrong, either. But this is 2025 and the guy was full of shit.
This guy is saying he was so good at throwing a knife, yet couldn’t hit someone point blank with a rifle?
You are from the US? What were US soldiers doing in the British Army? Or, why were British soldiers doing in NASA?
And there weren’t any North Koreans fighting in Burma during WWII.
In med school, we shared dorms with the law students — a colorful bunch who never let the truth get in the way of a good story. One of them, a 6′6″ guy who looked and lumbered exactly like the Frankenstein monster (hence his nickname, Frankenstein), swore up and down that he had a buddy in the Air Force who’d occasionally let him take an F-16 out for a joyride around/above town.
Now, this same guy had told a few whoppers that somehow did turn out to be true, so I tried to keep an open mind. But come on — “Civilian 6’6” Frankenstein” joy-riding an F-16? Not bloody likely. For one thing, the cockpit alone would’ve folded him up like an origami.
I concur with hogarth & the moderator that “w**” is an ancient slur equivalent to the notorious n-word. His acronym explanation (Worthy Oriental Gentleman) is a back-formation.
Today I learned that “w(*)g*”* is a pejorative applied to Asians. I’m Asian, and have been called plenty of interesting names, but never that. I have always assumed it was a Britishism applied to blacks.
As a Britishism, it applied to everyone: “Wogs begin at Calais” was a sentiment said to be held by Winston Churchill.
It’s a shortened version of “golliwog;” a children’s doll of an African caricature. You might recall this familiar tune by Debussy, but didn’t know the title.
“The Golliwogs” also is the first name of the band Creedence Clearwater Revival. Although that really is one of the most awkward and unsexy band names in rock history (maybe only matched by Chicago Transit Authority), it was a good thing they changed their original name.