Punishment

Before the word "Yoo Hoo" became associated with a chocolatey soft drink, it was involved with a famous US Army incident just before World War II.

Dateline, July 6, 1941, five months before Pearl Harbor. Outside Memphis, Tennessee, an Army General named Ben Lear was playing golf in 97° heat when a convoy of some 80 Army trucks rolled by. Some of the soldiers got a glimpse of some women on the golf course wearing shorts, and responded most ungallantly with catcalls, salacious suggestions, and shouts of "Yoo Hoo!"

General Lear

Lear went bazoo, ordering the convoy halted, delivered a pithy lecture on military discipline, and then ordered all 350 of the men in the convoy to go on a forced 15-mile march in the blistering heat.

Marching along

This became known as the Yoo-Hoo incident, and Lear took the nickname of "General Yoo-Hoo" to his grave in 1966.  Of course, back on the homefront, the debate about the appropriateness of the punishment raged for but a short time, since by the fall, war clouds were gathering, and the United States entered the War in December. 

Was the General too harsh? Or was he upholding chivalry in a proper manner? We may never know, but one thing is certain. In 2026, you never hear anyone hollering "Yoo Hoo!" to anyone, unless they want that watered-down "chocolate" "milk" drink.