keywords: G.I. ； The Battle of the Bulge
(G.I. are initials used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States)
The Battle of the Bulge is the last German major offensive campaign on the western front of the European battle field during WWII.
During the early stages of the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler ordered Austrian SS commando Otto Skorzeny to assemble an army of impostors for a top-secret mission known as Operation Greif. In a now-famous ruse, Skorzeny outfitted English speaking German soldiers with captured American weapons, jeeps and uniforms and had the men slip behind the U.S. lines and pose as G.I.s. The German pretenders cut communication lines, switched road signs and committed other small acts of sabotage, but they were most successful at spreading confusion and terror.
When word got out that German commandos were masquerading as Americans, G.I.s set up checkpoints and began grilling passersby on baseball and American pop culture to confirm their identities. While they succeeded in capturing a few of the Germans, the roadblocks often produced farcical results. Overzealous American soldiers shot out the tires on British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s jeep,(精神过度紧张的美军士兵打爆了蒙哥马利元帅的吉普车轮胎）
At one G.I. checkpoint General Omar Bradley was asked the question of the capital city of Illinois
After he answered: Springfield, he was detained.
The soldiers believed it was Chicago.
