Tootsie Rolls

There was a time when you could find these candies everywhere. During the Korean conflict the army loved tootsie rolls because they weren’t prone to a meltdown when included with army field rations. In order to confuse the Chinese military Intel decided to use the word tootsie roll to mean bullets. And so when one platoon was running short on ammunition they radioed for more tootsie rolls. However, noone bothered to tell the supply clerk and so when boxes of tootsie rolls showed up everyone was caught by surprise. Fortunately there was time to correct the mistake and also to enjoy it. A true story? Sounds good. In fact, according to another source, in November 1950, 15,000 British and U.S. forces faced 120,000 Chinese troops at a mountain reservoir called Chang Jin. The temperature ranged from a daytime -5 F to -25 at night. Radioing for “Tootsie Rolls” (aka mortars), the air force dropped the real item which provided much needed food. Also, once warmed by body heat Tootsie Rolls became pliable and were used to plug bullet holes in fuel drums, radiators and gas tanks. Once frozen they made the perfect plug. Once THEY realized that the soldiers needed mortars the problem was rectified and the outnumbered allies survived the onslaught.