Ben Lear’s Yoo-Hoo March

In 1941, Lieutenant General Ben Lear was playing golf at a country club in Tennessee when a convoy of 80 U.S. Army trucks carrying 350 men from the 110th Regiment rolled past. Lear heard soldiers whistle and shout catcalls, particularly "yoo-hoo," at a group of women in shorts. He stopped the convoy and declared that the men had disgraced the army. As punishment, he ordered every man in the convoy to march 15 miles of the 45-mile trip back in brutal 97°F heat, and many straggled or collapsed along the way. The incident sparked public criticism, but the Army backed Lear, and the mocking nickname "Yoo-Hoo" stayed with him for the rest of his career.

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