73rd National Airborne Day
That’s COB6 giving you the six minute warning above.
National Airborne Day is set on the day of the first parachute jump conducted by the Army’s Parachute Test Platoon on August 16th, 1940.
On the morning of 16 August 1940 the jump began. After the C-33 leveled off at 1500 feet and flew over the jump field, Lt. Ryder was in the door ready to jump. Warrant Officer Wilson knelt in the door waiting to pass the Go Point. When this was reached, he slapped Lt. Ryder on the leg and the first jump was made. Now Number One moved into position. Slap! “Go! Jump!”
Still no movement.
It was too late now to jump on this pass. Mr. Wilson motioned Number One to go back to his seat. As the plane circled Mr. Wilson talked to Number One. Number One wanted another chance. Okay, this time we’ll do it. Back into the jumping position and once again, slap!
Sadly, no movement. Number One returned to his seat.
Private William N. “Red” King moved into the jumping position in the door. Slap! Out into American military immortality leaped Red King… the first enlisted man of the test platoon to jump out of an airplane. Number One was transferred to another post and anonymity. Now there were forty-seven. Was Number One a coward? I don’t think many experienced jumpers would say so. There are things some men cannot do at a given time. Possibly another time would have been fine. He wanted to. He intended to. He just could not… at least that morning.
The first US airborne operation was in support of Operation Torch, November 1942, in North Africa when 531 members of the 2nd Battalion 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment flew 1600 miles in 39 C-47s, of which only ten aircraft dropped their pacs, the rest landed because of navigation difficulties and low fuel.
Ten years ago, 3rd Battalion, 75th Rangers secured an airfield in Kandahar in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on October 19, 2001. On March 23rd, 2003, A Company, 3/75th conducted an airborne operation to secure an airfield in Northern Iraq a few days before the 173rd Airborne Brigade parachuted into Northern Iraq when the Turks wouldn’t allow the 4th Infantry Division to off-load and invade Iraq from their borders.
In years past, the 82d Airborne Division Association, mostly the DC Chapter, had to lobby to get recognition for National Airborne Day from the Senate every year, until 2009 when the Senate made it permanent.
We used to get a Presidential Proclamation every year, but for some reason, we haven’t had any since 2008.
That’s me, on my ass as usual, in the days before Eric Shinseki;
Category: Historical
Looks like you were taking inventory, Jonn. I guess everything was there–by the smile on your face.
My airborne wings were pinned on by a member of the test platoon back in the late 80s. What an honor!
If anyone’s interested, the link Jonn posted regarding the Test Platoon gives a by-name roster of the group.
Well done, my elder brothers-in-arms. Damn well done.
This Leg salutes all his paratrooper and airborne-qualified brothers and sisters on this esteemed occasion…
Q: Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
A: Why would anyone want to go through life as a nasty fucking leg?
AATW!
There were only 2 still alive when I was assigned to airborne school in December 2008. One died shortly after that, I thnk it was Benjamin Reese, or maybe he was the only one still alive after the one died. I don’t remember. Red King was the man though…balls of steel. RIP all of them and thank you for paving the way for future generations of airborne
All the Way!
#5: $110 per month doesn’t hurt either when my 2LT base pay was $222.30 in 1963. But, I’m forever indebted for being able to be trained by an outstanding group of Sr NCO’s in the 82nd…several of which had gold stars on their wings.
BTW, my mother was a Leg.
AATW! Sadly, I married a leg and that genetic flaw was passed on to my son, who is also a leg. Don’t get me wrong, I love them both dearly. But…
@7…the $110 was nice, more money for beer and to pay for breaking starch daily. Mom was a civilian so putting the leg monicker on her wouldn’t be fair. Dad was a master blaster…among other things!
Q: What hold’s up a chicken’s ass?
A: A leg!
2/2/1984 a member of the Greatest Generation pinned on my Wings.
Yesterday was the 71st Birthday of the 82d Airborne Division which was the United States first Airborne Division.
Happy Airborne Day Brothers. Airborne! All the Way! Let’s Go!
My great uncle was there at Lakehurst a few months later for parachute training.
He wasn’t Army though.
While I was NOT a member of the test platoon, I WAS waaaaay back there in Airborne history, back when the 101st was not only on jump status, but had their own Airborne school. Got sent to my TO&E unit as a Leg, then started jump school. Most of you thought going to your airborne unit as a Cherry was tough, going to it as a Leg made me the lowest life form on the planet, (above a quitter, that is). Doing something that caused a member of Jump School Cadre to “get my number” in the first week, made me just a bit tougher, stronger than those around me too. Sheyit, I pushed Kentucky into Tennessee for days on end. Why did I laugh when that guy fell off the Swing Landing Trainer?
Ran up the jump tower 49 times. I counted…
#12: I spent 3 months at the 82nd as a leg before TDY to Basic SigO course and Jump School. My name appeared on EVERY manifest. It would be in the #1 slot; lined through; annotated “Leg” by the BN Sergeant Major (who had gold stars on his wings). Troopers would salute and say: “All the …. Good Morning Sir”. In the mess hall the Troopers would “talk to each other” in a stage whisper: “hey man, what your favorite chicken piece?” The table would loudly say “Leg”! All this in good fun and camaraderie.
#5
Q: Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
A: There’s no such thing as “a perfectly good airplane”.
[I’m a cherry jumper.]
rfisher: bingo. It’s not a skill one wants to acquire via 10 seconds verbal instruction followed by OJT when the plane breaks. (smile)
Watch this…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwMQ-i4evTQ
Stuart Clark: excellent!
I could care less that you all know how to fall out of an airplane. 🙂
All kidding aside, those brave men of the Test Platoon have some huge brass ones.
The closest I have gotten to a parachute was the jump tower harness at NAS Pensacola, which dropped you 10 whole feet into a sand pit.
It’s not the jump, it’s that first step into thin air. Not my cup of tea, but you guys enjoy it.
High five to all of you……
Being retired ChairForce…I have one thing to say…..
WHY IN THE HOLY HELL WOULD YOU VOLUNTARILY JUMP OUT OF A *PERFECTLY* GOOD AIRCRAFT?!?!?!??! :-O
/I always say that I’ll jump like you guys when I see flames AND ground coming up at me.
/bigger balls that I’ll ever have.
B Co, 1/501st at Fort Richardson, and 28th ID LRSD.
I’ll tell you why we jumped – nap of the earth, C-130. Want. The. Eff. Off. Left the Air Force the bagged contents of my stomach as a return present.
Also, went to Airborne School right after OSUT at Sand Hill, and ended up with the Rakkasans before PCSing to Alaska. Nothing was neater than being an E-4 cherry jumper after having already done awesomesauce with the 101st as a leg.
I hated jumping…until I stopped.
As I have told countless legs over the years, “Sure beats walking to the objective”
I think we were packing for REFORGER in 1975 in that picture.
I still want a calendar with that picture of Jonn as Mr. April for my birthday.
@24. Since I retired in 08 every time I see a C17 or a Vomit Comet/Dirty Herc fly overhead I die a little inside knowing I will never stand in the paratroop door, do a TLCT and clear to the rear ever again. I’ve tried sport jumping, but it’s just not the same vibe.
And to clarify about my wife and son. I met my wife when I was in 8th ID(M) LRSD. She was a 98G at the time and refused the school when I said I had her a guaranteed slot. My son, Lebben the Younger, is a door kicker in an SBCT in Hawaii. He was offered the opportunity of enlisting with an Airborne contract, but declined. Right now, he’s in Ranger School and should be finishing up Mountains. Before he left I told him that if he graduates, my retired Victor will still trump his AD Golf.
God bless every badass who jumps or does any of the other hard jobs to keep us safe.
Me, I have flown in many a perfectly good airplane and was content to stay there. I figured the more folks who were willing to jump, the less likely that I’d ever be called upon to do so. Hasn’t happened yet, and it’s best for all concerned that that’s the way it turned out. A big salute to you all!
Loved every minute of my airborne career.
@5/9/15:
Q: What falls from the sky?
A: Birdshit and fools.
@24: As I have told countless legs over the years, “Sure beats walking to the objective”
That’s why we have Air Assault 🙂
When I was a young trooper, we did a battalion N/MT into Normandy DZ. As I was rolling my ‘chute up, I smelled something odd and one of my shirt sleeves felt wet. Upon pulling out my flashlight, I discovered that part of my canopy was covered in puke and I had just smeared it onto my BDU top. After that, I always checked my canopy carefully after I stretched it out.
Jonn-
You was a handsome dude. That smile must have melted many a chick.
My brother takes much pleasure out of calling me his own personal leg!
@30… How much is Air Insult (Assault) pay?
Asked some of the SF reservists I knew in KS before I went in why they jumped out, one replied “Ever been in a C-130?”
God love y’all.
@33: Oh, I know. My dad was Airborne and when I went in, I wanted to go Ranger, because I was greedy and the enlistment bonus was $22K at the time. My dad and my brother-in-law’s brother talked me out of it (they were both Vietnam Vets, with my dad being LRRP and my b-i-l’s brother being SF), because they were looking at Rangers from their perspective when they were in. I did do civilian skydiving while I was in, with a couple of Ranger buds, but I never did do the Airborne thing.
ALL THE WAY!!!
Seems to me,that we need the mighty purple thunder douche old loud mouth rummy dilly dallas to weigh in here,as he is by his own words the single greatest soldier to ever fall out of a plane,lololol.
My dad worked on the Strategic Bombing Survey at the end of the war in Europe. Despite the propaganda about the damage caused by years of massive bombing the survey found that only one bomb in a hundred hit within five miles of the target. Hence the finding that “The only things falling from the sky that do any damage are bird shit and paratroopers”.
@33. And is there such a thing as being on “Air Assault Status?”
All this talk about paratroopers, familiy history etc?
Did ya’ll notice how stunningly handsome those two paratrooper specimens are up there?
Of course that was long ago 🙂
Two comments:
a. To reiterate rfisher’s previous comment: as is the case with any mechanical device, there is no such thing as a “perfectly” good airplane. There are only two types of planes: those that are currently broken and those that will break in the future. (smile)
b. A C130 isn’t that bad a ride. Try a C123 outfitted with cargo straps instead of fuselage doors. That’s a whole different level of “I want the hell out of here” factor. (smile)
And yeah, COB6 – the two of you looked pretty decent in those photos. Can’t argue that.
#41: I never rode in a C-123, but I have read and heard that those were hell compared to C-130s (which I have traveled on beaucoup times)…
@39…NO such thing as Air Assault pay…or status… unlike real MEN who EARN JUMP PAY and STATUS! As for the girls…the Kumbaya Army has been in full effect for years and getting worse!
To the Brothers of the Silk:
From my dad, nephew and I, Airborne All The Way!!
The bar is open and the smoking lamp is lit …
I miss it …
damn i miss jumping. its been over 10 years since i went to jump school now, and my 27th jump ended my military career, but it was a blast
@40, of course we noticed, COB6. How could we miss that?
What is is about guys and uniforms…..? Mmmmph!
Oh – And while we’re at it, there’s no such thing as National Air Assault Day, either.
Combat Historian: I made my first jump at Benning out of a C123. Yeah, it was a trip.
The C123 has engines in a “two turning and two burning” config – e.g., two radial piston engines for the props, and two smallish turbojets for takeoff.
The piston engines shook and rattled the whole damn plane; those vibrated like a tuning fork. The planes were also old, so usually there was a hydraulic line seeping, too; they often stank of hydraulic fluid. Or worse, if someone on the previous lift had been ill.
Did I mention there were no fuselage doors, only a cargo strap? So that you got full outside noise as well as all the noises from inside the craft?
Then, just before and during takeoff, those damned jets fired up. Hell, you could barely hear yourself think before those kicked in. Afterwards? Fuggedaboudit. They screamed like a banshee, and you felt it in your bones and teeth.
That was the best damn plane from which to make your first jump. You WANTED to get the hell out of that aircraft!
Can we have a “post a picture of your airborne op” thingy? 😀 would love to see some old ones and willing to contribute some new of mine 😉