Fascist Substitute For Patriotic Fervor

The Nazis' secret weapon: they were high

"Hitler's propaganda stressed the importance of keeping fit but in reality his soldiers were taking drugs.

The troops were taking addictive and damaging chemicals to make them fight longer and more fiercely.

The Daily Mail reports a study of medicines used by the Third Reich exposes how Nazi doctors and officers issued recruits with pills to help them fight longer without rest.

The German army's drug of choice as it overran Poland, Holland, Belgium and France was Pervitin - pills made of methamphetamine, known today as crystal meth.

Thousands of Nazi soldiers were using the drug by the time the Soviet Union was invaded in 1941.

About 200 million Pervitin pills were given to Nazi troops between 1939 and 1945, research by the German Doctors' Association revealed."

The U.S. Military Needs Its Speed

"Recalling the American airborne invasion of Normandy during World War II in his 1962 book Night Drop, Army colonel and combat historian S.L.A. Marshall wrote: "The United States Army is indifferent toward common-sense rules by which the energy of men may be conserved in combat."

Pilots from the Air Force 183rd Fighter Wing felt the reverberations of Marshall's assessment -- which is cited on page 3 of the Navy's official guide for managing fatigue -- last April. According to reports published in Canada, they misidentified a target during a bombing run over Iraq. Meeting with their commanders, they complained they were exhausted, that the "common-sense" rule of 12 hours of rest between missions was being ignored.

In return they got two pieces of advice: Stop whining and visit the flight surgeon for some "go/no-go" pills."