Intro...

[oldxskydiver]

Thanks Rangers for the warm welcome!
Also, thanks to all of you for your service. Most of you served much longer than I did, and served in combat....Thanks again.
I was planning to stay in, but I had a big problem with all the drafties and their fuck-it attitudes. They didn't like my gung-ho attitude, RA enlistment, and I was serious about doing the very best I could everyday. Our jobs were dangerous, Vietnam was always a possibility, and men were killed....
I won the Iron Mike/Distingusted Graduate on 26 Nov. '71, signed by MGTalbott. Still have the brass paratrooper (WWII) award and the diploma. I had an advantage over the others in my class (Airborne class 16) because one of my older brothers was in the 82nd in 1964-65. He would come home on leave and teach me door postions, PLF's, jump commands, and all the songs. It made an impression on the high school kid... Because of the DG, I was told I could go to any Army school as a reward....so, Ranger School was next.
But, orders got screwed up...and I went to the 82nd after three weeks of running the zero week students while I waited.
Then RS 12-72...
It changed my life, my attitudes, my sense of honor,duty,country,etc...Never been the same!

[panthersix]

Is it true that you 82d Riggers once put a 'chute on a chimp and threw him out of an A/C?

[oldxskydiver]

I've heard of stories about animals jumping, but never saw it. It does remind of....Why don't blind guys skydive?....because it scares the hell out of the dog.
When I was in C/2/325, one weekend we were really bored, so we hooked up a cat to a illumination parachute and he got about thirty jumps from the top floor window...he couldn't get away dragging that parachute behind him. We let him go after he tried to climb up the lines on his last jump. He was awarded a MasterBlaster. Drunk 20 years olds do stupid things...

[Oto-Man]

I've heard of stories about animals jumping, but never saw it. It does remind of....Why don't blind guys skydive?....because it scares the hell out of the dog.
When I was in C/2/325, one weekend we were really bored, so we hooked up a cat to a illumination parachute and he got about thirty jumps from the top floor window...he couldn't get away dragging that parachute behind him. We let him go after he tried to climb up the lines on his last jump. He was awarded a MasterBlaster. Drunk 20 years olds do stupid things...

We never shot shit from the B Co 2/75 3rd story windows...No cats, crossbow bolts, arrows, cats, rats, grenade sims, beer cans, cats....never happened....


Welcome here young man...

[oldxskydiver]

Didn't see nothin'...or as Clinton would say "I don't recall"...

[panthersix]

I've heard of stories about animals jumping, but never saw it. It does remind of....Why don't blind guys skydive?....because it scares the hell out of the dog.
When I was in C/2/325, one weekend we were really bored, so we hooked up a cat to a illumination parachute and he got about thirty jumps from the top floor window...he couldn't get away dragging that parachute behind him. We let him go after he tried to climb up the lines on his last jump. He was awarded a MasterBlaster. Drunk 20 years olds do stupid things...

We had a Rigger in my RIP class, the Rigger/Urban legend was that a chimp was chuted up and thrown out on a static line jump, his chute opened, but then the monkey tried to climb up the risers as though it was a tree, collapsed his chute and burned in...I dunno, guess it's Rigger BS.

There was a guy in A.Co. that had a pet rat that he jumped in a motar tube though. He used to keep the rat under his steel pot but the damn thing kept eating all the leather and webbing out of it....shit everywhere too...

[FIST TEAM LTR]

Who had "Claymore", the desert tortoise he jumped with ???

[rangerrod]

When I was in rip my class had a turkey for a mascot. During the second week when we did a shit load of jumps out of a 47 we hooked a flare parachute up to the turkey and threw his ass in the breeze. Never did see the fucking turkey again. Oh well i heard they taste just like chicken.

[Jim]

I was in A & HHC/ 2-508 during the same timeframe. Welcome Blue Falcon...

[Steadfast]

Waiting on your completed packet oldxskydiver.

[oldxskydiver]

Hello Rangers Jim and .,

I was in C Co.,2nd Bat., 325th Airborne Infantry....THE WHITE FALCONS. 1st Bat. was the RED Falcons, 2nd Bat. was the WHITE Falcons, and the 3rd Bat was the BLUE Falcons....
OK, was this a test?

During some of the bad (really bad) war games we had....some of the bad attitudes would surface. When the high ranking officers would walk around the areas checking foxholes and stuff....a paratrooper would yell out, "Call of the White Falcon"....
and the reply was (in a very high voice)...."FUCK IT, FUCK IT".

Airborne!