Fighting Talk Trivia Quiz

Answer: Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar defeated the forces of Pharnaces II of the Kingdom of Pontus at the Battle of Zela in what is now northern Turkey. Caesar was avenging an earlier defeat of a Roman legion and the persecution of Roman citizens in the area. The phrase "Veni, Vidi, Vici" is contained in a letter Caesar wrote to report to the Senate.

Answer: Bastogne

McAuliffe was acting commander of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, surrounded in Bastogne during the German offensive known as The Battle of the Bulge. McAuliffe was known to not use profanity, and often said the mild "nuts" in place of stronger words. When the German envoy asked the meaning of the reply, an American officer explained it as "In plain English? Go to hell."

Answer: William T. Sherman

More of Sherman's quote is ""You don't know the horrible aspects of war. I've been through two wars and I know. I've seen cities and homes in ashes. I've seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is hell!" During his "March to the Sea" in November-December 1864, he destroyed military targets, civilian property and transportation and industrial infrastructure from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.

Answer: Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

Forney was a Lieutenant in the Navy's Chaplain Corps, assigned to minister to the ship's crew and forbidden by Navy regulations and his church policy from directly participating in combat. He noticed that antiaircraft gun crews were tiring as they hauled ammunition from deep within the ship to the topside guns, so he helped by encouraging the men with his now-famous phrase. Song writer Frank Loesser later used that phrase in a popular song performed by Kay Kyser and his orchestra.

Answer: The Charge of the Light Brigade

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was Poet Laureate of the UK when he wrote "The Charge of the Light Brigade" in 1854. He reportedly wrote the poem in a few minutes after reading a newspaper account of the actions of the Light Brigade in the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.

Answer: William Westmoreland

Westmoreland commanded all U.S. troops in Vietnam from 1964-1968, departing soon after the infamous Tet Offensive to become Army Chief of Staff in Washington. Westmoreland believed the war could be won by attrition - killing more of the enemy - leading to the focus on "body count" as a measure of success.

Answer: Surrender of Japan

The first time that a Japanese Emperor's speech was broadcast to his subjects was on August 15, 1945, when Hirohito announced his intent to accept the Allied Potsdam Declaration that demanded Japanese surrender. Hirohito's words were recorded on a phonograph record.

He used a very formal form of language that many did not understand, and the quality of the radio broadcast was not the best: all of these led to confusion among the Japanese people as to whether Japan was indeed surrendering.

Answer: Carl von Clausewitz

Clausewitz wrote the seminal "Vom Kriege" ("On War") after the Napoleonic Wars; the book was published posthumously in 1832. Clausewitz was a historian and accomplished military leader and from 1818-30 head of the military academy in Berlin. He was fascinated with how Napoleon managed to use the entire resources of his country and eventual empire to wage war on a level not previously seen.

Answer: Attila the Hun

Attila the Hun lived 405-453 CE and rampaged in an area from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean in the late stages of the Roman Empire. Attila was named co-ruler of the Huns in 434 with his brother Bleda; Attila later killed his brother and ruled the Hunnic Empire from 445 until his death in 453.

Answer: George Washington

George Washington wrote this in a 1785 letter to Dr. David Humphreys, a longtime friend, aide-de-camp and confidential advisor. At the time of this letter, Washington was a private citizen, having resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in 1783, and before his election as President in 1789.