Wild Blue Yonder

[Salty]

I leaned something today.
I was watching Hogan Heroes - and Col Hogan got Col Klink to play "Wild Blue Yonder"
I was thinking that was a goof - as the Air Force was still in the future.
At the time, it was known as the Army Air Corps, then became known as the US Amy Air Forces
during WW II.

When I did some checking - I found that:
In 1937, Assistant Chief of the Air Corps Brig. Gen. Henry H. Arnold persuaded the Chief of the Air Corps, Maj. Gen. Oscar Westover, that the Air Corps needed an official song reflecting their unique identity in the same manner as the other military services

music instructor Robert Crawford, a rejected World War One Air Service pilot and professional musician billed as "the Flying Baritone," personally delivered a sound recording of his entry, which proved to be a unanimous winner.

From Wiki The U.S. Air Force (song) - Wikipedia

 

[Van]

Yes, some of the phrases we use today, or when we were young had origins that we did not comprehend. When I played football as a receiver, I was told to run a "button hook" route. I ran right at a defender and when he started to back track, I stopped short, turned around and took a few steps back toward the QB. But I never used a "button hook" to fasten my shoes.

And I used the term, "I gave him the whole nine yards." I had no idea that referred to the length of 50 cal ammo belts used in bomber aircraft.

And of course I had a completely erroneous understanding of what "balls to the wall" meant! In the movie, saving private Ryan, it starts with Normandy and the thousands of brave soldiers riding in these boats heading toward the beach. And as they approached, they were being targeted by the enemy. So getting to the beach as quickly as possible was a shared concern by our heroes. The little boats had lever throttles with round balls on top. When they were pushed all the way forward, full throttle, they were "balls to the wall!" Kinda puts a whole new perspective on the phrase!!!