555 Susanna, but are you sure you got your information straight? It was the Wehrmacht that issued Pervitin, Isophan, and Eukodol adding up to over 200 million pills and leading to classified D.IX of 1945. The crystal meth enabled German troops to march 36 miles a day, D.IX increased that to 55 miles a day! Most Heer and Waffen SS used a 3 day up, 2 day down cycle on the Ostfront. Luftwaffe crews also were issued chocolate (chokolade) meth laced bars. Hitler took steroids and meth. And civilians could mail German troops Pervitin as well from their local chemist. Britain and US used Benzedrine. Historically, Germans invented amphetamines in the 19th century and Japan invented crystal methamphetamine in 1919. Japanese useage was widespread as was German usage, but German production was much higher and Germany invented other drugs now common like Methadone, Mescaline, Ecstacy, Oxy, etc... At Dachau LSD was experimented with and then captured by the US. Japan used leftover Philopon to treat it's addicted soldiers, but it was banned in 1951. The Yakuza then trafficked it as "Shabu" for street use. Btw, Finnish troops also took Pervitin. I wrote on this a long time ago here...

Luftwaffe was also issued Scho-Ka-Kola chocolate in a disc canister. It contained two chocolate discs loaded with caffeine equal to espresso! Kept the pilots and crews alert and some were diverted to German tank crews. A little known fact was that after a fierce fight with US troops in which the Germans surrendered, they gave SKK to the Americans for bravery! The GIs didn't turn them down!

Yes, I got the information right. What you wrote about Pervitin is right, but the Japanese turned that up to eleven. German army used meth: conversely, meth used the Japanese army. Germans noted 1941 the side effects of amphetamines, and gave it up: the Japanese issued it to the troops on daily rations, and the side effects, such as psychosis, emotional coldness, wanton brutality and outright psychopathy were actually desired effects.

Without meth, the Kamikaze attacks and Banzai charges would have been impossible. The Japanese soldiers began to surrender only in late 1944, when supplying them the shabu became logistically impossible. Terrifying stuff!

Not accurate Susanna. Pervitin was banned in 1941, but supplies of it continued under Merck as well as other methamphetamines provided by pharmaceuticals. The German armed forces received 200+ million pills. The Luftwaffe continued to receive SKK and other meth-laced chocolates until the end. D.IX was the next phase set for October 1945 for general issue to the Heer, Waffen SS, and midget U-boat crews as intended originally (from Kiel). About 100,000 D.IX pills got to German troops in 1945 as recounted by the Red Army. And btw, the Japanses banzai charges originated long before WW2. It was in the code of honor going back to feudal Japan. Banzai charges were normal in China long before the last year of the war with the US. The fact that Kamikazes took Philopon is not that impressive. German ramming attacks with Fw-190s were performed by LW pilots NOT on drugs! The Reichenberg program, however, was deemed of little use, so it was dropped. Even the SS did not care for dedicated suicide programs.

Some other facts: - Pervitin and other German methamphetamines were issued from 1939-1945. Philopon was issued from 1941-45. - Although claims of 900 million pills issued for Philopon, this includes pills issued to the civilian population as well and postwar production. Due to chronic food shortages and the need for high labor production, Japanese civilians took as much Philopon as soldiers! Not so with German civilians. - Philopon was vastly inferior to D.IX which remained classified until the 2000s when reported by the American Journal of Medicine minus some key ingredients! - Addicted German troops had to do without postwar. Japan continued Philopon production until 1951 because it had 2 million addicted soldiers. The Yakuza then made Shabu for street use well into the 1970s. - Another WW2 Japanese popular meth was Sedrin originally used to fight sleepiness -

I sang

Susanna, it seems to me that Japanese didn't surrender in any kind of significant numbers until the end of the battle of Okinawa, in June 1945. They certainly didn't at the Battle of Iwo Jima, where only 216 soldiers surrendered, out of a garrison of 21K. And even here, most of the captives were soldiers who had been knocked senseless by the incessant bombardment. And when you consider the fact that one of the only way to get at these soldiers in their caves was to hit them with flamethrowers (!!) ... their bravery and fanaticism is otherwordly. And even at Okinawa, many of the surrendering troops were Okinawans who had been dragooned into the fight at the eleventh hour.

Good point CML. The Japanese were prepared for guerrilla warfare even after the two atomic bombings. They threw in the towel on Aug 15th when the Soviets invaded Manchuria. That was it. But the preparation for Allied invasion had already begun. Vast suicide squads existed for opposition on land, air, and sea which included AT suicide bombers. The Japanese even managed to build a few microwave weapons on trucks, something the Germans only managed prototypes of! I give Susanna props, however, for such a good topic and her research. I just disagree with some of her conclusions and numbers. Germany for example under meth usage killed far more than the Japanese soldier and ideologically the Nazi Waffen SS had the edge even without drugs. The carnage on the Ostfront proves that. The Finns fought well against the Soviets in defense but the Germans fought at a level of brutality and cruelty off the scales of human warfare. Too bad that German girls and women had to suffer the consequences.

Island warfare is always very bloody and fought to the bitter end, but the Pacific wasn't the only front where the Japanese fought. They fought also in China, Burma, Indochina, Manchuria and New Guinea, and there they weren't as desperate as at the islands. Once the drug logistics began to fail, human instincts such as surviving alive took over the tweek and brainwash.

Whilst suicides and self-destructive charges were a tradition amongst the Samurai, the majority of the Japanese soldiers were conscripts, who had been forced in the service on pain of execution. (Conscription is by definition always coercion, and the mass butchery of men in WWII would have been impossible without conscription.). Being slave soldiers by nature, they were far less enthusiastic to die than their officers, but meth helped in that respect: one of the side effects of meth is that it wipes out self-preservation instincts.

How methy! 555

Susanna - I'm an old writter on this site. Haven't written anything since 2012. You and I have traded comments and if memory serves me, you are from Finland. I have always admired how you and K1CHYD write your parodies so well. It's challenging for a first language English speaker to write a parody well. Most people cannot do this. I am happy to still see you out here writing.

To add to your parody I lived in Tokyo for 3 years, went back again for a summer 9 years later and my job took me on a few 90 to 120 day trips to places that inclused Germany and South Korea. The Japanese people are a hard working and hard playing group of people. The drug stores in Japan could be identified by a green frog outside of the business. The Japanese have a very strong work ethic and do not like to miss work. Bugs, colds, flu, etc. were dealt with as I recall with an elixer that was about 90% speed. During the time I was in Japan they took a very dim view of recreational drugs to include marijuana. One joint could get you 5 years in a Japanese prison. Their prison system was grim. Americans who found themselves incarcrated there better have had friends to bring them food. Best a prisoner would get was raw fish heads and maybe a bit of rice, no heat in the winter and Spartan conditions throughout the prison system.

I knew nationals in Japan who either lived through or fought in WWII and I was told about the use of methamphetamines by the Imperial forces and it seems that this is exactly true. When I was in South Korea, US military forces were warned not to even enter a pharmacy. They had no prescription system or anything like our DEA there. Morphine could be bought across the counter. I'm not surprised by that because the Koreans did not have an issue with drug abuse. Military who were caught in one of their pharmacies were likely to be court marshalled and convicted. There was little or no regulation on just about anything and everything. I wish we here in the U.S. would cut that federal regulation difference from South Korea and the U.S. to split it down the middle. What works one place does not necessarily work in another, but I feel we here in the U.S. have way too much federal government regulations imposed upon the people and businesses to name two groups. Alchoholic beverages were not regulated by percentage or proof in South Korea. It was possible to get knock down drunk on two or three drinks in one setting and drink 15 of the same and not get half that impaired.

Maybe you have been to Germany? I remember seeing work crews there who were working outside on break and drinking beer. I've been around enough to never be in a state of culture shock but I always learned the rules and customs as much as possible when I left my home country. No one likes an ugly American.

Great parody Susanna. I planted 5's on your score board.

Just curious, but what would any Finnish person know about island-hopping?

In Vietnam, US troops on long range patrols were issued Dexedrine to be added to Darvon and Codeine for a total of 42 pills per soldier for 4 days! All issued by the US Government as well as experimenting with anti-anxiety meds to prevent breakdowns.

I have tried the Scho-Ka-Kola chocolate. Online ads advise not giving it to children or people with medical conditions. I have read a biography of Emperor Hirohito and a history of the Rape of Nanjing. Neither mentioned drug use among the Japanese military. Maybe it was so much a part of the background as to be no more notable than a rice ration. Still, it does offer an explanation for the brutality. I read somewhere that the US pilots who took part in the air attack on Colonel Gaddhafi back in the 1980's were offered some sort of pills to help stay awake during the long flight, but that many refused due to perceived side effects. Once I refrained from caffeine for two or three years. Then someone gave me a glass of iced tea and I began to feel a weird sort of "high". Now I can drink liters of the stuff without much effect. Back in the 1960's, news commentator Paul Harvey reported that Viet Cong soldiers killed or captured by American troops were found to be carrying plastic bags full of white powder--heroin. Turns out that it was actually some sort of chemical for purifying drinking water. A very informative parody. Learning some new aspects of the war. I used to handle a lot of WWII German magazines, books and newspapers for a militaria auction. Never saw any mention of drugs. Probably not something they wanted to publicise, preferring to think that their prowess came from training and personal courage alone. Drugs would seem "artificial" or "unfair".

I recall many years ago that the Kansas City Star ran a series of articles on the abuse of steroids, especially by young athletes. The symptoms described included uncontrollable rage and a tendency to violence. A casual acquaintance at the time asked me if I knew where to get some. I didn't and still don't. I asked what he wanted with dope. He said he wanted to be a wrestler. Rage and violence were desired results, not side effects to be avoided.

?: History of World War Two was dealt in our school history curriculum on 9th grade. Including the Pacific War.

@? What does someone's nationality have to do with what they know? For all you know Ms. Viljanen could have several PHD's in humanities and Earth history. I don't want to use the "R" word but I'm thinking it. Tell me if I'm off on this.

@Rob Arndt Please for your own well being, stay off of those Twilight Zone Web Sites. Most of the US fighting force during Vietnam were draftees and were left in the field for extended periods and not fed. I know a few hundred Vietnam vets and what you are saying about the drugs is nonsense. Please provide your sources for your claim in your comment and I'll consider entertaining it. I know several draftees who re-enlisted and became cooks because they nearly starved to death in the field. Most Vietnam vets came back either as weed smokers or addicted to heroin. Ever hear of the golden triangle in that part of the planet? Not even one of the Vietnam vets I know had not one thing to do while they were there with any of the families of drugs you have declared that they were given. The only way they would have gotten any of what you state would be if they became a causality and medical professionals provided it to them while they were under hospital care.

PULLEEEZE!

One of my Grandfather's was born in the Ukraine and English was his 5th language. He was Magyar. I think his first language was Hungarian. His English was badly broken as were most of the Ells Island immigrants that were of my Grandparent's generation. One day this narcissistic kid I went to school with hear my Grandfather and me talking. Gramps was in his eighties and went in for a nap. This kid said to me who is that old man, he sounds really stupid. I just looked at this kid and said proudly that is my Grandfather and he speaks five languages. How many languages do you speak? And that was that. So Susanna besides Finnish and English, I would bet you have some other language skills. Not a fan of what "?" said to you. That just looks rude. Probably another one of those ugly Americans. You go girl friend.

Soldiers in units infiltrating Laos for a four-day mission received a medical kit that contained, among other items, 12 tablets of Darvon (a mild painkiller), 24 tablets of codeine (an opioid analgesic), and six pills of Dexedrine. Before leaving for a long and demanding expedition, members of special units were also administered steroid injections. ~ The Atlantic, Lukasz Kamienski, April 8, 2016

Btw, Susanna is reluctant to talk about Finnish soldiers and drugs because in the late 1930s they were addicts hooked on opium, heroin, and morphine shipped to them via the United States. And going into the Finnish wars took 7-9 million heroin pills alone per year! They ALSO took German stocks of Pervitin; in August 1941, receiving almost 1 million pills in ONE shipment!!! I don't think Susanna or anyone here realizes that Hitler's ban publically of opiates and amphetamines didn't apply privately because he himself, his commanders, and troops continued to take them as supplied by Tammler, Merck, and other pharmaceuticals throughout the war. So was Eukodol and Isophan and Luftwaffe chocolates laced with methamphetamines. After 1941, combat reports still prove German methamphetamines were used widely on the Ostfront while they were cut back on the Western front. And D.IX proves that the Heer, Waffen SS, and midget U-boat crews were slated to receive the new drug as standard issue in October 1945 from the records; in fact, over 100,000 pills had already manufactured and were being tested with select Heer and Waffen SS units against the Red Army. D.IX also shows up in the Dachau records, tested on human subjects in forced marches.

Finally, US usage of drugs like Benzedrine in WW2 and Dexedrine postwar is common knowledge. Anyone can look those up. In fact, who in the military has not heard of "Go Pills' or "Green Hornets?" The drugs I mentioned above were Govt issue for Vietnam. I did not include all the pot, opium, heroin, and alcohol US troops were on! And btw, one of my friends who served in Afghanistan was issued both opiates AND meth! USAF pilots still take Go Pills on long missions.

As I stated... "Twilight Zone Web Sites". (TZWS) or "I read it on the internet so it must be true". OK, so I was born at night, just not last night, sir. Your statement was misleading also because you did not reference expedition forces into Laos and/or and I mean to include Cambodia. Your statement inferred that it was all in Vietnam where mostly regular US Army and Marines fought. The guys that went to Laos and Cambodia were CIA backed special forces troops. This was totally against the norms of conventional warfare and likely violated the Geneva convention.

So my take is that you are getting the source from as I called it a TZWS. They are still trying to indict former Nixon secretary of state DR. Henry Kissinger for this activity and a whole host of other sins. I choose to take the article that I read in the Atlantic on that TZWS with a grain of salt. So far America is a free country and I can respect that you will believe as you wish as shall I. So let please just agree to disagree. Good night, sir. V/r

The author has an excellent book out on the complete history of drug usage in warfare: https://vice-images.vice.com/images/content-images/2016/04/08/drugs-have-been-used-in-pretty-much-every-war-ever-shooting-up-body-image-1460131865.jpg?resize=650:*&output-quality=75

To everyone:

War is a horrid thing, but an excellent source for black humour parodies. War and drugs go hand in hand, and methamphetamine (Pervitin, Philopon, Dexedrine etc) was the "wonder drug" in WWII. Yes, Finnish forces used Pervitin a well, and it was known as "höökipulveri" (pep powder). It was mainly used by Long Rangers, who either skied or were paradropped behind enemy lines and who, after their mission, were excepted to fight their way back to own lines.

But one of the unspoken secrets is of WWII that the Japanese forces used meth like bread (or rather like rice). Their alimentary logistics and rations were notoriously poor, and they were expected to prepare their meals by themselves. Methamphetamine was like a gift of heaven in such situation: it annulled hunger, need of sleep and fatigue, and made the soldiers incredibly brave and to disregard their own lives and safety. The Germans noted early the undesired side effects of meth, and discontinued its use: the Japanese considered the side effects as actually desired. Add there also the Japanese officers' callous disregard of their men, and that explains a lot why the war at the Far East was so cruel, vicious and brutal.

Heroin was the drug of choice in Viet Nam. It is one of the most efficient painkillers there is, but unfortunately it also dulls mental and social pain as well. It is the ultimate "so what" drug. Many GIs were conscripts, taken away from their homes, their jobs, their schools and sent against their will to other side of world to fight for a corrupt military junta against an equally evil, vicious and nasty enemy. They had very little motivation whatsoever, and heroin was like a gift of heaven to dull the agony of being there, fighting a war with no cause, seeing friends dying and longing for home. Drugs don't make squalor: rather the other way - physical, social or emotional squalor makes to use drugs to dull the negative emotions and pain inside. Unfortunately, they have a positive feedback, and enhance each other, creating a vicious circle.

Conscription must have been one of the greatest tragedies of humakind. It is basically levying by force, coercing unwilling young men into soldiers, to become poorly trained mincemeat. The horrible mass slaughters of WWII would have been impossible without conscription. The Japanese soldiers in WWII were all conscripts, as were the GIs in Viet Nam - and also were the NVA soldiers, which tended to have just as bad a heroin habit as the Americans. Fortunately, most GIs dropped their habit after return to US, especially if they found job, girlfriend or studies: they had gotten meaningful contents for their lives, and no more need to dull their emotions down.

Both of my grandfathers fought in WWII. Neither of them talked of their war experiences sober. Those who were not wounded physically, got a wound on their souls. So be kind to your nearest veteran - he has been through Hell already.

To everyone: Finnish is my first language, and I learned Swedish as a child. I learned English, German and Spanish at school. For a small nation member, you simply _have to_ master as many languages as you can: nobody certainly won't bother to learn Finnish. I have later learned some Japanese, Russian and Portuguese. Once I taught myself the Hebrew alphabet, I found out I understand Yiddish - it is close enough to German. Most Finns speak at least three languages. While on drug topic, my skydiving parodies have gotten mixed response. Some have liked them, some dissed. But I wrote them from my heart: skydiving _is_ a drug. While I am a chemical engineer (and thus familiar with various drugs and their effects), I must say skydiving is a drug, similar to cocaine. I went to drop zone to fulfill a teenage dream. It succeeded too well: I got hooked. The free fall stimulates adrenaline, and the elation of a successful jump sets up endorphine rush - just like cocaine.

Like in any hobby, there are various types of practitioners, and I have eyed the psychology of the people there: what kind of guys and girls jump off airplanes? It is said 1 in 1000 does have such psychology, and I found out I do. Unfortunately, that is also the frequency of people who tend to develop a drug habit. There are "jump bums", drop zone regulars, who live for skydiving. They may have thousands of jumps under their belt, and they work the winters on odd jobs so they can fund their hobby and jump all summer.

I realized: for them it is no more a hobby. That is a habit. It is a habit same as drug addiction, and the psychology of drug addicts and jump bums (or skiing bums or sailing bums or re-enactment freaks or whatever) is similar. Their social circles restrict to other addicts, they are single and they live for their addiction and to fulfill it. They have no meaningful life outside their addiction.

I'm too old to become a DZ regular anymore, but I can well understand why such addiction develops. Heroin is one of the most vicious, and heroin addiction is very hard to severe as it dulls down the emotions. The only way to cut off heroin habit is to have the addict to find something really meaningful in their lives. Merely removing heroin off their lives won't help.

Methamphetamine addiction is, fortunately, easier to deal with than heroin, cocaine or nicotine addiction. That is the reason why tweeks usually have a better prognosis for future than heroinists.

A sky-diving lass hooked on free-fall
Took selfies and shouted, "Watch me fall!"
Her height was so great
The ripcord could wait
Now Heaven's demanding her recall.

Arguments aside, this is not a parody. It's not even funny and to make matters worse Susanna again has to bring up her skydiving addiction. At least Arndt knows his history and Susanna fails to challenge him effectively. CML also corrected her on Pacific warfare and she failed to address him too. Obviously, her school book history lesson is deeply flawed and her absurd conclusions based on drug history are exposed. Even the ancients used drugs in combat. I think Susanna should rethink her wild claims.

I don't know why Susanna is fixated on Japanese Kamikazes. They were third to ram enemy aircraft after the Russians (Taran ramming) and Germans (Rammjaegeren). Although of larger scale in the ETO, I find no accurate record of the Divine Wind taking Philopon before attacks. I have actual IHF film of the honor ceremonies, writing to wives, girlfriends, and family in letters, and drinking Sake before being bolted into Ohka rocket craft or taking off in fighters or bombers. They did it for the Emperor and the Bushido Code of Honor. An excellent book that is available to refute Susanna is "Suicide Squads" by Richard O'Neall ISBN 0861010981. Mr. O'Neill is a military historian who served in the British Army in the 1950s. He did extensive research through historical records to write his book. Methamphetamines only enhanced a warrior's ideology and military prowess. No amount made soldiers or pilots invincible. Germany and Japan gloried in war. It was natural and honorable. That's why they killed so many people. The Germans actually were disgusted that they didn't have enough ammo to simply kill every Russian soldier who surrendered to them. Having to move 100s of thousands to the rear meant it slowed the Blitzkrieg!!! Btw, mandatory conscription for those two nations was never coercion. Not to serve was dishonorable.

The talent pool at AIR has indeed been drained in the past four years. One of the few bright spots during that period has been the absence of your prolix moralizing, intrusions into the personae of our benighted contributors, and self-aggrandizing bloviations. Take a pill for your logorrhea. There's a wide variety suitable for you, described above.

Back off Morty. He has read Susanna's past parodies which disingenuously bemoaned her own excessive courage, particularly in skydiving. She has often been advised that this covertly high self-regard is unseemly and painfully immodest. As a defense, she has attacked her critics for not daring to live their lives to the fullest, as she has. There is just too much of this to take. You, apparently, are not aware of this history which motivates and mortifies Morty.

You and Rob Arndt have this in common: the two of you are sanctimonious patriots -- but for different countries.

Dont be dragging me into some s&*t storm of abuse against Susanna. I'm not against Susanna at all. I made one small correction and she did respond to it. She said Japanese did in fact start surrendering in outlying theaters, but not in the Pacific islands. ... This is not entirely implausible. The mortal threat to the Japanese empire was the American forces in the Pacific, to include the B-29 bombers operating out of Guam. The air base on Iwo Jima posed a serious problem to the B-29 squadrons. The round trip from Guam taxed the fuel capacity of the B-29's to the limit; they couldn't afford to go 100 miles out of their way to avoid Japanese fighters based on Iwo Jima. Accordingly, only the most elite, fanatical infantry were stationed at Iwo. Same could be said for Okinawa as that island was actually part of Japan, So Susanna was not discredited by anything I said.

"Bully a female?" I bet that Susanna would want no deference given to her gender. Indeed, her writings show no traces of feminism or femininity!

Ref previous comment:

Words of wisdom that I learned from a "wiseguy" from my late teen years whose occupation as stated was an entrapanuer in the "Waste MGT. Business".

"When argueing with an idiot be sure he is not doing the same thing".

^ The garrulous Guy, who highlights the bad spelling of others, writes earlier, "One of my Grandfather's [sic] was born in the Ukraine and English was his 5th language." Counting down the generations, it appears that English is Guy's 7th language. He probably has been reading Donald's tweets: "National Review is a failing publication that has lost it's way. It's circulation is way down..." We had enough idiot's around here before Guy returned.

Quote from previous comment:

"The talent pool at AIR has indeed been drained in the past four years. One of the few bright spots during that period has been the absence of your prolix moralizing, intrusions into the personae of our benighted contributors, and self-aggrandizing bloviations. (SIC) Take a pill for your logorrhea. There's a wide variety suitable for you, described above".

Ah, I think that many of the old crew would disagree with you. It is more likely that we all left when you and your crew trailer trashed the site.

Our old crew was not afraid to identify ourselves in our comments. You chose your handle as "@ Guy". If you really believed in what you wrote you would have identified yourself. Giving you the benefit of the doubt, the @ [NAME] goes inside the comment as a way to identify who the commenter is addressing. The block for your name is where you identify who you are that is making the comment.

Need I rephrase in 2 to 4 letter words for you to comprehend? It's too bad ChuckyG dropped the crayon feature in the comment section.

I have arrived at an answer to that question about arguing with an idiot and I have concluded that it is time to end this discussion or whatever kind of communication madness this is.

Good night and good bye ma'am, sir or whatever you may be. OUT.

^ It's my experience that the guy who ends his comment with "OUT" is really shouting "UNCLE."

Just to cite a ref on continued German methamphetamine useage past 1941 I cite this: In January 1942, a group of 500 German soldiers stationed on the eastern front and surrounded by the Red Army were attempting to escape. The temperature was minus 30 degrees Celsius. A military doctor assigned to the unit wrote in his report that at around midnight, six hours into their escape through snow that was waist-deep in places, "more and more soldiers were so exhausted that they were beginning to simply lie down in the snow." The group's commanding officers decided to give Pervitin to their troops. "After half an hour," the doctor wrote, "the men began spontaneously reporting that they felt better. They began marching in orderly fashion again, their spirits improved, and they became more alert." It took almost six months for the report to reach the military's senior medical command. But its response was merely to issue new guidelines and instructions for using Pervitin, including information about risks that barely differed from earlier instructions. The "Guidelines for Detecting and Combating Fatigue," issued June 18, 1942, were the same as they had always been: "Two tablets taken once eliminate the need to sleep for three to eight hours, and two doses of two tablets each are normally effective for 24 hours." Toward the end of the war, the Nazis were even working on a miracle pill for their troops. In the northern German seaport of Kiel, on March 16, 1944, then Vice-Admiral Hellmuth Heye, who later became a member of parliament with the conservative Christian Democratic party and head of the German parliament's defense committee, requested a drug "that can keep soldiers ready for battle when they are asked to continue fighting beyond a period considered normal, while at the same time boosting their self-esteem." A short time later, Kiel pharmacologist Gerhard Orzechowski presented Heye with a pill code-named D-IX. It contained five milligrams of cocaine, three milligrams of Pervitin and five milligrams of Eukodal (a morphine-based painkiller). Nowadays, a drug dealer caught with this potent a drug would be sent to prison. At the time, however, the drug was tested on crew members working on the navy's smallest submarines, known as the "Seal" and the "Beaver." ~ Spiegel Online, Hitler's Drugged Soldiers, Andreas Ulrich, 5/6/05 (Other Russian sources described D.IX issued to German Army and Waffen SS encountered on the Ostfront 1945)

Are there international treaties banning or limiting the use of fighting enhancement drugs, such as the Olympic Committee's ban on PEDs? Do ISIS beheaders take drugs to kill their consciences, or is their interpretation of Islam drug enough? Are there military versions of pain killers that can be made safe for civilian use? I mean non-opioids.

Ron - Good questions. All I know for sure is that the Nippon Imperial Military during WWII thought it made them 'genki', but then it made them also act more like a 'yama zaru".

Just another fact about the IJA and IJN pilots. Those that rammed B-29s and other bombers were NOT considered Kamikazes by the Japanese. As for the B-29 that CML mentioned, a few facts. They used 3 main bases: Tinian, Saipan, and Guam for use against Japan. They also fought in the CBT at first flying from India. About 4000 were manufactured and a little over 10% were lost (419) to all causes: fighters, flak, other. Although it had a ceiling of 32,000 ft the fire bombing missions were lower altitude. Japanese day and night fighters could reach them, but night fighters fared better with diving runs using oblique cannons like the Germans used. Early B-29s had problems with the engines and fires. And lastly, the B-29 was not the last bomber to attack Japan. That falls to the B-32 Dominator.