WHY IS ‘ABBREVIATED’ SUCH A LONG WORD?

Charles Herman Kuhl
(November 6, 1915 – January 31, 1971)

During WW 11, Kuhl had served as a Private for 8 months in
Company L, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division,
when he was admitted to the 3rd Battalion, 26th Infantry aid
station for reported combat exhaustion.

At the station, Kuhl was initially diagnosed with “exhaustion,”
and his medical chart said “psychoneurosis anxiety state,
moderately severe (soldier has been twice before in hospital
within ten days. He can’t take it at the front, evidently. He is
repeatedly returned.)” Kuhl was transferred from the aid
station to the Army’s 15th Evacuation Hospital near Nicosia
for further evaluation.

On a tour of the 15th Evacuation Hospital, Patton encountered
Kuhl, who was sitting slouched on a stool midway through a
tent ward filled with injured soldiers. Years later, Kuhl would
recall that when General Patton entered the hospital tent, “all
the soldiers jumped to attention except me. I was suffering
from battle fatigue and just didn’t know what to do.” When
Patton asked Kuhl where he was hurt, Kuhl shrugged and
replied that he was ‘nervous’ rather than wounded, adding
“I guess I can’t take it.”

Patton slapped Kuhl across the chin with his gloves, then
grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the tent
entrance, shoving him out of the tent with a final kick to
Kuhl’s backside.Yelling “Don’t admit this S-O-B”,
“ Patton demanded that Kuhl be sent back to the front at
once, adding “You hear me?”

Following the incident, Kuhl was found to have both chronic
dysentery and malaria.

Kuhl later worked as a carpet layer in South Bend, IN, after 
his military service. He died of a heart attack at age 55.

Patton’s encounter with Kuhl was later depicted in the 1970
film Patton.

George Smith Patton Jr.
(November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945)

MIKE GRACIA

Actor Gary Cooper being questioned by the  Congressional
committee.

On October 20, 1947, the notorious Red Scare kicked into high gear
in Washington, as a Congressional committee begins investigating
Communist influence in one of the world’s richest and most
glamorous communities: Hollywood.

After World War II, the Cold War began to heat up between the
world’s two superpowers—the United States and the communist-
controlled Soviet Union. In Washington, conservative watchdogs
worked to out communists in government before setting their
sights on alleged “Reds” in the famously liberal movie industry.

In its investigation, the House Un-American Activities Committee
grilled a number of prominent witnesses, asking bluntly “Are you
or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” Some
witnesses—including director Elia Kazan, actors Gary Cooper and
Robert Taylor and studio honchos Walt Disney and Jack Warner—
gave the committee names of colleagues they suspected of being
communists.

A small group known as the “Hollywood Ten” (below) resisted,
complaining that the hearings were illegal and violated their
First Amendment rights. They were all convicted of obstructing
the investigation and served jail terms.

A group of Hollywood stars pose against the Capitol dome as they arrived
in Washington, D.C. for a session of the committee.