During the Korean War, the U.S. military learned the dangers of naming supplies after easily confusable products. In 1950, at the North Korean Chosin Reservoir, a group of U.S. Marines was running very low on ammunition in the middle of battle. They called in for a drop of 16 mm mortar rounds and the codename of these bullets, you guessed it, was Tootsie Roll. Instead of ammunition, the Marines received a bunch of those oblong, taffy-like, chocolate logs, which, we can assume, was probably quite a disappointing shock for those troops. However, this miscommunication would prove to be vital to the soldiers’ escape — no, they didn’t use the Tootsie Rolls as bullets.
Watch the video below via Great Big Story.
