Sybil Bruncheon's "ON THIS DATE... 1917"...

Boys and Girls, did you know that long before Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, or even Annette Funicello became Mouseteers, Walt Disney had created his special club for children. Sadly, it was in response to the horrors of World War I, and the club was invented with the Top Secret US Army Special Operations Forces. Here we see Clive Turnbyl and Phelicity Jabb (both 12) behind French battle lines, fully equipped with their state-of-the-art "Hear-It-All-Telescopic-Mustard-Gas-Detectors" ready to post alerts to the troops should the Germans begin another round of their fiendish warfare. When spotted in their bunkers by the Germans, it was assumed the children were doing musical morale shows for the troops. Interestingly, Disney didn't name his mouse characters Mickey and Minnie until ten years after the war concluded... prior to that, American military agents knew them only as Jedediah and Gretchen-Patrice Rattinski. It was George Marshall who told his pal Disney that "the names stink! Think of something happier!... with an M... for Marshall!"... And that was on this very date. Back in 1917!

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