Chosin Reservoir Tootsie Roll Misdrop

During the Korean War’s Battle of Chosin Reservoir, a U.S. mortar section that was running out of rounds radioed for more ammunition using "Tootsie Rolls," their slang term for mortar shells. A code reader who did not understand the slang treated the request literally and arranged for Tootsie Roll candies instead of 60 mm mortar rounds. Crates of the chocolate candy were airdropped to the Marines, who had expected desperately needed ammunition but instead received emergency rations in the middle of a frozen battlefield.

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