Hell’s Fires on Earth
Introduction
From the beginning of known history, men have fought over everything. Land, food, and
resources were just a few prizes to winning. Ever since the creation of the sling, spear, and bow and
arrow, men have discovered ways to be better than their opponent. At first, these were mere tools to be
used for hunting. Then primitive humans learned to take what was another human’s. Since then, one
man has tried to be better than the rest, and they use their brains to create weapons. Fire has been
around longer than humans. Some wished to leash its power and use it against others. Through the
greatest invention came one of most terrible weapons ever created: napalm.
The Creation
Throughout history, many incendiary weapons have been made such as Greek fire and the
lighting of hot oil off castle walls, but none were more notorious than Napalm B. During World War
One, the flamethrowers used only gasoline. Though it was liquid fire, the flamethrowers had a very
short range and would run off a target before burning it severely. A new formula was desired that would
stick to a target, burn longer, and have a better range. The formula invented in 1942 by Dr. Louis
Fieser, a chemistry professor at Harvard University, replaced the former gasoline (Time, 2000). The
device was named napalm because the original formula used naphthenic palmitic acid; the device was
made from a form of aluminum soap mixed with the acid (Time, 2000). The formula was said to have
been good at destroying crabgrass (Time, 2000). Napalm B revised Dr. Fieser’s formula. Napalm B’s
composition included the original napalm but also had a much higher gasoline percentage. The ...
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...ld have had a demoralizing effect. With the harnessing of fire's incredible
properties came responsibility. The Vietcong must have wondered what the next seemingly impossible
weapon would be. Only the future would tell.
Reference Page
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Time. (n.d.). Napalm. The Virginia Center for Digital History at The University of Virginia. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/PVCC
Wain, C. (n.d.). Vietnam Napalm Girl - FamousPicturesMagazine. Main Page - FamousPictures.
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3Brophy, L. (1959). The Chemical Warfare Service (1st ed.). Washington: Office of the Chief of
Looking back at how the chemical weaponry expanded starting in the beginning of World War 1, it all began with Tear gas which was used by the French in August of 1914. Those techniques have been used in ancient times. Moving forward eight months in to the war the Germans have been giving great study in to the development of chemical weapons due to the first usage from the French and witnessed its great effectiveness and were the first to use it in a large scale.
Seth Schonwald M.D. A.B.M.T. (1992, July). Mustard Gas. The PSR Quarterly Vol. 2 No. 2
Hydrochloric acid is a strong and corrosive acid that is often used as a reagent in laboratories.
“All the soldiers there were wearing NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical warfare) protective clothing. We said: ‘What’s going on here?’ And their answer was: ‘Didn’t you know? This ammunition is a bit dodgy.’” – Tim Pubrick, Gulf War veteran, British Royal Army tank commander.6
Unknown. (2001). Chemical and Biological Defense Program annual report to Congress (2000). In Chemical and Biological Defense Program annual report to Congress (2000) (pp. 116,
Napalm and Agent Orange, two of the most morally terrifying weapons used in the mid to late 1900’s. These destructive weapons were most famous in the Vietnam War for inflicting fatal wounds and even deformities. In world war two, napalm was mostly used in tanks and incendiary bombs to destroy enemy ground troops. These were extremely effective and later used in planes like bombers. The word napalm comes from the combination of naphthene and palmitate, which are powdered aluminum soap. It was invented in a top-secret 1942 war research collaboration between Harvard University and the U.S. government, used to devastating effect in Europe and the Pacific in World War II most notably to incinerate 64 of Japan’s largest cities and in most major military conflicts after 1945, notably in Korea and Vietnam (Thompson). Agent Orange was later introduced in the Vietnam War. In the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese people there started with little of anything to begin with. The Northern people of Vietnam joined communism because they were
The purpose of this essay is to deal with the fact that chemical warfare should be brought back to modern warfare strategies. As Warren Rudman said, “And they will tell you unequivocally that if we have a chemical or biological attack or a nuclear attack anywhere in this country, they are unprepared to deal with it today, and that is of high urgency.” Rudman’s words are true in what they say and that we should do everything to counter-act his statement. Biological weapons are a key to outstanding success in war and therefore, I strongly suggest that chemical warfare is an effective and producible weapon tactic that can be used on today’s battlefield.
Fries, A. A., & West, C. J. (1921). Chemical warfare,. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill book company, inc..
arrow to hunt with as well. To cook the food that they had gathered the made the rope twister
Arison, Lindsey. "The Herbicidal Warfare Program in Vietnam." Executive Summary 1 (June 1997). 3 Mar. 1999 <http://www.gslink.com/arison/orange.html>.
These kinds of weapons were impractical for military use, but attracted many people to the arms race for weapons that could sweep the battlefield. “They had limitations in practice, among them slow re...
A secret label, hushed and never talked about, has followed my name since I was born; “Pyro,” pyromaniac that is. Fascination with fire, the uncontrollable impulse to start fires, has been circulating in my blood from the first day I was born. Smelting heat and flames would spark my attention no matter what my surroundings. Candle lit dinner tables, switch flick colorful lighters, lit cigarette butts and burning matches. Oh matches! How I love them. The smell of gasoline has always been a heavenly scent, burning paper and bonfire parties are two of my other favorites. Smokey haze has always soothed me. One crisp October afternoon, however, that soothing smoky haze turned against me.
By 2.5 million years ago, a new human evolutionary trend had begun. The change to a upright bipedal posture, and existing flexibility at the shoulder, arms, and hands allowed hominids to carry and manipulate objects much more readily. Early hominids began to manipulate the physical world, inventing solutions to the problems of human existence. Instead of foraging, as do most primates, on a more or less individualistic basis for food sources, early hominids invented stone tools with which they could slay larger animals. This began a switch from scavenging to hunting as the main means by which meat was acquired.
... effective as required, so we used dry powder and foam to cut the oxygen, then the fire got under control so we sprayed the water to cool the fire, unfortunately our water tanks was about to get empty, so we looked for a hydrant to fill them, after that we sprayed all the fire and then we were able to put the fire down, after 2 hours of fighting the fire.