Word: ragtag
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...whetstone; the cartridges were loaded with a mixture of dynamite, amatol, and the flash powder from Chinese firecrackers. For every two men, there might be one obsolete rifle and 15 rounds of ammunition; with luck, a platoon would also sport several carbines or an automatic weapon. Yet these ragtag guerrilla forces, scattered across 36,000 square miles of mountain and malarial jungle, were able to tie down a large number of enemy units, kill 7,000 Japanese troops, and secure intelligence of the highest value. And here is one modern guerrilla insurrection that was led by Americans-for this...
Until recently, the only outward manifestations of revolt were a few student marches, and individual acts of defiance. But now Haiti's U.S. -trained 5,000-man army is dissatisfied with Duvalier, and embittered at being upstaged by the ragtag militia. Last month a group of army officers hatched a plot to depose Duvalier. When the dictator got wind of the coup, four of the officers involved managed to take refuge in the Brazilian embassy. A fifth, Colonel Charles Turnier, was picked up and dragged to Dessalines barracks for "questioning." Next morning machine guns rattled in the barracks...
...known as "Madame Yvette," who sauntered about in paratroop boots, camouflage uniform, bush hat and shoulder holster. Only 50 miles from Kolwezi, Indian infantrymen probed cautiously forward, waiting only for the signal to head full blast toward the town. But the signal would not be given rashly, for the ragtag mercenaries threatened to blow up a huge dam and industrial installations, leaving the town a blackened shell. They might not be bluffing...
...frustrate efforts to reunite his rebellious, copper-rich province with the rest of the Congo. Now, U.N. Secretary-General U Thant, with U.S. encouragement, was determined to end the Katanga problem once and for all. The occasion happened to be the collapse of discipline among Tshombe's boozy, ragtag 20,000-man gendarmerie. When they began shooting at U.N. soldiers in Katanga a fortnight ago, the U.N. replied with all the power at its command...
...predawn darkness, the ragtag irregulars set up roadblocks, sabotaged communications lines, and overran police stations all over the country. In the town of Seria, Shell Oil's Brunei headquarters, the rebels rounded up 55 hostages, formed them into a human shield, and marched them to a nearby police barracks. But when the police fired on the shield, both prisoners and rebels broke...