afrotc-l: Fw: [UL] History of the hoo-ah

["Lisa Liebig" <lml66@msstate.edu>]

(I received this through a mailing list and thought some cadets might find
it interesting)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Chapman" <wt046@victoria.tc.ca>
To: "urban legends" <urban-legends@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 4:26 PM
Subject: [UL] History of the hoo-ah


> [This article is also carried in today's Baltimore Sun. Unlike the LA
> Times, it requires no registration.
>
http://www.sunspot.net/news/sns-othernews-ha-lat,0,2493863.story?coll=bal-fe
atures-specials
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-war-chawkins15apr15.sto
ry
>
> Los Angeles Times | 15 April 2003
>
> History of the hoo-ah: Tracking an exclamation
>
> By Steve Chawkins, Times Staff Writer
>
> Military talk in the last few weeks has run to bunker-busters and
> daisy-cutters -- and, from the Beltway to Baghdad, a heck of a lot of
> hoo-ah.
>
> Or, more properly: HOO-AH!
>
> That's the all-purpose exclamation, affirmation and declaration of pride
> that started in the Army but has since made its way into the Air Force,
> and on occasion has even augmented the Navy's ancient aye-aye. The Marines
> have their own chest-thumping version -- OOH-RAH! -- but they'll tell you
> that an ooh-rah is no more to be confused with a hoo-ah than a caisson is
> with a quesadilla.
>
> Where these joyful noises come from nobody knows exactly. Theories run the
> gamut, from a toast in the Indian wars of the 1840s to an abridged version
> of "heard, understood and acknowledged," courtesy of eager acronym
> spinners in the U.S. Department of Defense. All that's really known is
> that, for years, the expression was barely heard outside of military
> bases.
>
> [...]
>
> Some have suggested the expression derives from the rueful Army adage
> "Hurry up and wait." William L. Priest, author of a book on military
> expressions titled "Swear Like a Trooper," figures it may date to the
> British "Huzzah!" of the 1700s. But a favored U.S. Army explanation is
> drawn from the history of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, known back in
> 1841 as the 2nd Dragoons.
>
> That year, according to regimental lore, a Seminole chief named Coacoochee
> attended a banquet after truce talks between his tribe and the Army. New
> to the custom of toasting, he raised his glass and shouted something that
> sounded like "Hoo-ah!" -- a cry echoed by the officers and adopted by the
> regiment.
>
> [...]
>
>
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