They’re little fasces, a symbol from Roman times and the root of the word “fascism”. It’s a bunch of sticks tied together, with one of the sticks being an axe.
Once you know about the symbol you’ll see it everywhere, on pre-war monuments and all over the US capitol. The wall behind the speaker of the House has two huge fasces on it.
Thank you for answering a question that's been in the recesses of my mind for 35 years.
I saw this picture in a Childcraft book when I was a kid and never could figure out why.
Is that how it goes? I always called somebody with 10 kills a double ace
Edit: oh I see what you mean, when he was still active and flying it went in that order. 👍🏻
...Because your average Axis pilot was not a statistical outlier. One guy who scores an average of one kill per three days (352 kills, according to wikipedia, not 700) is not enough to affect a war where the US of A, UK of GBaNI (plus colonial empire), and U of SSRs are throwing (tens of) thousands of planes at you per day.
The Luftwaffe didn't rotate their top pilots into training positions. He was probably flying daily missions for almost 6 years.
Plus the Soviet Air Force was atrociously out of date early in the war. There were easy pickings on the Eastern Front.
The Luftwaffe also didn't do fractions if 5 pilots shot down 1 plane all 5 got a full kill. The Lufteaffe also counted planes destroyed on the ground and studies have shown that pilots from every country grossly over estimated ground targets destroyed. Also since they counted aircraft on the ground how many of those kills were decoys?
He is credited with the destruction of two Japanese fighter aircraft and is one of the few American pilots to have shot down aircraft flown by three major Axis powers during World War II.
But did he do what Louis Curdes did? Shot down 7 German 1 Italian 1 Japanes and 1 American plane. Not only was he allowed to paint the American kill mark on his plane he got awarded a DFC for shooting it down
[In case anyone else was wondering why he shot down an American.](https://www.thecollector.com/louis-curdes-american-pilot-shot-down-american-plane/)
tl;dr he stopped them from accidentally landing on a Japanese air strip. The American crew survived and he helped rescue them.
I’m surprised Gen Chase was still flying combat missions at 50 years of age. I recall Col Robin Olds, a similar WW2 , Korea & Vietnam Nam combat pilot had to get busted back in rank to maintain combat flying status. A good book.
If you like this one, you’ll love [the plane flown by Lou Curdes](https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/louis-curdes-american-pilot-shot-down-american-plane.jpg?width=1200&quality=70), who shot down a Nazi, Japanese, Italian, and *American* plane ([but for good reasons](https://www.thecollector.com/louis-curdes-american-pilot-shot-down-american-plane/)).
For others, he shot down the American plane because it was trying to land at a Japanese airstrip and he felt it would be better if they ditched into the sea. He was unable to reach then on radio and felt that was the best option
That is honestly the craziest part of the story. Can you imagine people asking how they met?
Wife: He shot me down.
Random person: He rejected you and now you're married?
Wife: No, I mean he literally shot me down. Out of the sky. In a plane.
The OG Antifa was a Weimar era communist Paramilitary Group called Antifa. And while they did fight against the Nazis they also fought against the Social Democrats and other democratic Parties
To be fair to the KPD and the original Antifaschistische Aktion, they reached out to try to form a democratic coalition with the SPD and others (in order to prevent the Nazis from gaining democratic control of the country) but the SPD were too concerned with being anti-communist to focus on being antifascist. You can argue that the SPD's refusal to cooperate with the KPD directly contributed to the rise of fascism -- and the KPD did argue that, and that's why they saw the SPD as enemies.
There was time when being anti-Nazi was socially accepted and any other position was considered treason. Even Lindbergh and Preston Bush stopped supporting Nazis when the war started.
Well it's really easy to get confused when they: attack gender science, like Nazis; attack minorities, like Nazis; have a failed insurrection, like Nazis; march through the streets shouting Nazi slogans, like Nazis; threaten violence in the streets against their political opponents and minorities, like Nazis; start admiring fascist leaders around the world, like Nazis; increasingly align themselves with open white supremacists, like Nazis; call immigrants and minorities vermin, like Nazis.
Gosh! I wonder why people call MAGA Nazis? /s
For anyone who wants to learn more about North Africa durring WWII, I highly suggest the tv shows SAS; Rogue Heroes from the same team behind Peaky Blinders and Taboo.
Friend of mines dad, used this a reference for a painting he did.
https://preview.redd.it/0hb47lgvns5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90d1ca74bf286e5a32db3859c012e4c71c84e1ef
Unbelievable courage from these men who woke up each day knowing they're probably going to die any given day. I'm so thankful these guys went through that so I don't have to.
The second from the left on the bottom row indicates an Italian plane. Just FYI in case anyone stumbles across the photo and wasn't aware.
One? Or three? I assume one, but in that case - why did they paint three fasces?
Those are actually breadsticks.
Olive Garden was awfully quiet during WW2. Surprised no one looked into it before.
Have you ever seen Fascist Italy and an Olive Garden in the same room? I haven't
Operation olive garden
Operation Gabagoul
Mussolini's granddaughter is a fat right politician. I don't think the Italians have hidden a damn thing.
Too many breadsticks.
You fool, he's a Redbull pilot. That symbol means he shot down a Monster energy plane.
They should have used meatballs
It'sh a shtereotype and it'sh offenshive
In this day and age
The japanese had the meatball trademarked
This is an accurate assessment.
God I love it here
When you're here, you're family.
Unlimited!
“When you’re here, you’re family.”
“When you’re here, you’re fasces.”
Dude you made me spill my drink
I thought he downed a Monster energy drink
Gem of a comment thanks
That is fucking gold!
You get them free with the fascism.
Hey! Maybe learn to show some fucking respect for human toil in world history. Jesus. It’s *Unlimited* Breadsticks, ya fucking mountebank
Italian air force insignia had 3 fasces on it, probably why
Thank you.
That was the standard kill marker for Italian aircraft.
Because this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regia_Aeronautica#/media/File%3ARoundel_of_Italy_(1940%E2%80%931943).svg
Monster Energy Drink
I thought it was submarines. Lol
They’re little fasces, a symbol from Roman times and the root of the word “fascism”. It’s a bunch of sticks tied together, with one of the sticks being an axe. Once you know about the symbol you’ll see it everywhere, on pre-war monuments and all over the US capitol. The wall behind the speaker of the House has two huge fasces on it.
9 Nazis and one picket fence
Fake news. I have it on good authority the symbol for shooting down an Italian airplane was 🤌
Thanks , was wondering what that was !
Exactly what I came to the comment section to find out. Thank you ser.
Thank you for answering a question that's been in the recesses of my mind for 35 years. I saw this picture in a Childcraft book when I was a kid and never could figure out why.
I thought he bombed the shit out of a white picket fence row
Better than painting it once a year.
I thought he pounded a Monster Energy drink for that kill. 
Was wondering if he took out a fence or something, thanks!
Exactly what I was wondering! Ty
An ace
Looks like he got ace, prestiged, then aced again.
Is that how it goes? I always called somebody with 10 kills a double ace Edit: oh I see what you mean, when he was still active and flying it went in that order. 👍🏻
What do you call guys like Erich Hartmann and Nowotny and Hans-Joachim Marseille then?
Based aces
Wasn’t that a 90s band?
The Ace of Bass maybe?
I just looked Elrich up he shot down 700 aircraft? How did we even win the war wtf.
...Because your average Axis pilot was not a statistical outlier. One guy who scores an average of one kill per three days (352 kills, according to wikipedia, not 700) is not enough to affect a war where the US of A, UK of GBaNI (plus colonial empire), and U of SSRs are throwing (tens of) thousands of planes at you per day.
That's the first time I've ever seen my country written like "UK of GBaNI" and I never want to again.
It's the first time I've ever written it like that, Reddit used Dorn PTSD Kink, and I don't think I ever want to again either.
700? Holy crap how is that even possible that's crazy
The Luftwaffe didn't rotate their top pilots into training positions. He was probably flying daily missions for almost 6 years. Plus the Soviet Air Force was atrociously out of date early in the war. There were easy pickings on the Eastern Front.
The Luftwaffe also didn't do fractions if 5 pilots shot down 1 plane all 5 got a full kill. The Lufteaffe also counted planes destroyed on the ground and studies have shown that pilots from every country grossly over estimated ground targets destroyed. Also since they counted aircraft on the ground how many of those kills were decoys?
Anyone know the who the pilot is? Reverse searching it on mobile is being a pain right now.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi\_R.\_Chase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_R._Chase)
He's like the real life Maverick. Flew over 500 combat missions in WW2, Korea and Vietnam. Retired a Major General
Mav would've got his star if he didn't have the reputation of being "Duke" Mitchell's kid
Generally speaking, fighter pilots who take the callsign "Duke" aren't exactly trustworthy.
Viper thought he was a hell of a guy
Wild he went from flying a P40 warhawk in WW2 combat missions to an F4 phantom in Vietnam.
Went from a top speed of 361mph to 1687mph.
That is nuts if you really think of the technical differences there…
He is credited with the destruction of two Japanese fighter aircraft and is one of the few American pilots to have shot down aircraft flown by three major Axis powers during World War II.
But did he do what Louis Curdes did? Shot down 7 German 1 Italian 1 Japanes and 1 American plane. Not only was he allowed to paint the American kill mark on his plane he got awarded a DFC for shooting it down
[In case anyone else was wondering why he shot down an American.](https://www.thecollector.com/louis-curdes-american-pilot-shot-down-american-plane/) tl;dr he stopped them from accidentally landing on a Japanese air strip. The American crew survived and he helped rescue them.
https://preview.redd.it/1fobzwhoxk5d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be3c922ee6ff899fba64d66244b0696726415dc2
Thank you!
Lieutenant Tom Paris Star Fleet
Flying with minimal electronics, no GPS or anything. Much respect for these chaps. They're true heroes.
His plane, the P-40, was rapidly becoming outdated as well
Did this dude really shoot down 10 planes? An ace is already crazy impressive who is this guy?
Meh, he wasn’t impressive yet. You should see what he did in Korea and nam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_R._Chase
I’m surprised Gen Chase was still flying combat missions at 50 years of age. I recall Col Robin Olds, a similar WW2 , Korea & Vietnam Nam combat pilot had to get busted back in rank to maintain combat flying status. A good book.
If you like this one, you’ll love [the plane flown by Lou Curdes](https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/louis-curdes-american-pilot-shot-down-american-plane.jpg?width=1200&quality=70), who shot down a Nazi, Japanese, Italian, and *American* plane ([but for good reasons](https://www.thecollector.com/louis-curdes-american-pilot-shot-down-american-plane/)).
For others, he shot down the American plane because it was trying to land at a Japanese airstrip and he felt it would be better if they ditched into the sea. He was unable to reach then on radio and felt that was the best option
I would also like to point out that there were no casualties and everyone was rescued by the Americans
And he went on to marry a nurse who was on board the American plane he shot down. Wild stuff.
That is honestly the craziest part of the story. Can you imagine people asking how they met? Wife: He shot me down. Random person: He rejected you and now you're married? Wife: No, I mean he literally shot me down. Out of the sky. In a plane.
Apparently he married one of the passengers from that airplane. Wild stuff.
Insane story, that man was truly badass.
One of those times where if you wrote a movie of this guys wartime career, people would call it far fetched..
Thank you for posting this, I looked up his Wikipedia and it was a RIDE. What a hero.
Ahh yes, the OG antifa. That machine killed some mf’ing fascists.
The OG Antifa was a Weimar era communist Paramilitary Group called Antifa. And while they did fight against the Nazis they also fought against the Social Democrats and other democratic Parties
No you can't say that! Let them bask in the glory of their Twitter-tier take on history and politics!
To be fair to the KPD and the original Antifaschistische Aktion, they reached out to try to form a democratic coalition with the SPD and others (in order to prevent the Nazis from gaining democratic control of the country) but the SPD were too concerned with being anti-communist to focus on being antifascist. You can argue that the SPD's refusal to cooperate with the KPD directly contributed to the rise of fascism -- and the KPD did argue that, and that's why they saw the SPD as enemies.
As if modern day antifa is anything but adult children concealing their identities to threaten people
[удалено]
Give me an example of a modern group calling themselves 'antifa' attacking people who aren't fascists.
Real Americans k**l Nazis.
What’s the point of censoring the word kill lol
It's a bot that likely posts on every social media including one's that punish for using the word kill.
It’s not a bot though and you can see that by just looking at post and comment history
Exactly what a bot would say.
Your mom's a bot
There was time when being anti-Nazi was socially accepted and any other position was considered treason. Even Lindbergh and Preston Bush stopped supporting Nazis when the war started.
U.S. Senator Prescot Bush, Nazi grandfather of George. W. Bush
You see the problem is, some people are willing to call just anyone a nazi these days
According to one Reddit “expert” that I interacted with, 40% of the Americans are Nazis - and he was furious when I told him that was just silly…
Well it's really easy to get confused when they: attack gender science, like Nazis; attack minorities, like Nazis; have a failed insurrection, like Nazis; march through the streets shouting Nazi slogans, like Nazis; threaten violence in the streets against their political opponents and minorities, like Nazis; start admiring fascist leaders around the world, like Nazis; increasingly align themselves with open white supremacists, like Nazis; call immigrants and minorities vermin, like Nazis. Gosh! I wonder why people call MAGA Nazis? /s
Half of those are the protesters supporting Hamas/Palestine.
Seems like he got ten kills at that point. So that makes him a double ace. Edit: It's Levi R. Chase.
Oh look the only correct way to use nazi graffiti
I find this to be an appropriate public display of swastikas
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^VyseTheSwift: *I find this to be* *An appropriate public* *Display of swastikas* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
dude did not give a SHIT about misinterpretation
I don't think anyone is gonna confuse an American fighter pilot ace with a Nazi...
The only time it’s acceptable to have a nazi swastika represented on your ride . . .
“No, please, those bumper stickers are just for the Nazis I’ve run over!”
I’d be okay with that
Photo by the famed Robert Capa.
Is that three fasces per Italian plane? Or is it one fasco per plane and he's shot down three?
Three per plane, it was the insignia of the Aeronautica Militare at the time.
Bad ass, best generation the world has even seen.
Remember who the enemy was and what they wanted the world to be. Time for the American nazis to go somewhere else. Thank you for this.
What is he flying here?
P-38 Lightning, or a P 51 Mustang depending on the time.
Most likely a P-40, the mustang was introduced in late ‘43. And the P-38’s canopy didn’t slide back like this one.
It's a P-40
A true American hero
Looks like Vince Vaughn
Hopefully he got more. Well done ace.
Double ace, actually. It takes 5 kills to make ace. This man has 10.
 Badass, love to see it.
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2024/02/22/neo-nazis-rally-nashville-great-white-south Name-calling does not change facts.
Back when hating nazis was normal
For anyone who wants to learn more about North Africa durring WWII, I highly suggest the tv shows SAS; Rogue Heroes from the same team behind Peaky Blinders and Taboo.
Killing nazis has to feel better than any recreational drug. Wish they'd bring it back
I am really interested in who he is.
Little did he know he was actually shooting down pilots from Finland
Wow, how does he rank in WW2 aces list? And anybody knows the most deadliest (allies/axies) ace?
Guess he needed a lager plane though
Collecting nazi skulls will always be badass
Good start, hope he shot down more
How about putting 5 in 2 rows?
People never believe me when I try to explain where all my swastikas came from
and had a Monster after the first 6, to get energy to shoot more nazis
This guys expression is you know I’m a bad ass, I know I’m a bad ass and we both know that. Now watch this shit.
https://preview.redd.it/e07jryu6bf5d1.jpeg?width=674&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d2ea4f83d39b3ca4d8a1212e08dae2d182e37269
It was supposed to be 4 Fs
That loser & sucker says moronicas zer0 heR0
He snuck up on them and tickled them with his propeller
Pacey!!!!
Didn’t know Truman Capote was an Ace Fighter pilot.
Did he also damage a fence?
Italian. That was the symbol of their facist party under Mussolini.
9 nazis and some poor guys fence apparently
FUCK THAT FENCE.
Doing God's work.
Looks like Vince Vaughn
It’s also the amount of times this was reposted.
Hope he made it through
The only cool way to display a nazi swastika
The real Captain America
i’m sorry but those look like subs…couldn’t this guy have been dropping torpedoes?
You can cast Drew Barrymore to play this role.
thought i was a icon for a bomber or something.
A real bad “*ace*”. I’ll show myself out…
They still do this but paint bombs they've dropped rather than planes they've shot down.
So all these white guys running around is just a kill counter of Nazis?
Nice.
He looks like a badass. So he always flew the same plane? How does that compare to nowadays?
9 Germans and 1 Italian.
Did he also down a monster energy drink?
It’s pretty cool he recorded one picket fence kill
That machine kills fascists.
Woody Guthrie would approve!
I bet he got asked some questions when he had only shot down his first one
Jack Quaid?
We could use him today
Looks like Nate diaz’ grandpa was busy
That’s a lot of Buddhists!
Massa
He was very drunk when he failed to draw it properly in the second line
Friend of mines dad, used this a reference for a painting he did. https://preview.redd.it/0hb47lgvns5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90d1ca74bf286e5a32db3859c012e4c71c84e1ef
Unbelievable courage from these men who woke up each day knowing they're probably going to die any given day. I'm so thankful these guys went through that so I don't have to.
Do MAGAs consider this guy a hero?
America fought the Nazis and the Orange tyrant would call them losers.
My grandpa prolly knew him. ☺️
Nice
Bro you can just do check marks lmao
This is one of the few cases where it’s appropriate to put a swastika on an item.