Paratroopers here at SOH
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  1. #1
    SOH-CM-2022 Crusader's Avatar
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    Paratroopers here at SOH

    I know there a few few paratroopers here at SOH and was just wondering if any of you have jumped out of a C-119 Boxcar ? I was just curious how you would rate the 119 to other AC you've jumped out of . The much anticipated C-119 will be making it's debut her at SOH soon I hope . What a classic looking old two engine prop transport ( along with the C-47 , 123's , Caribou and many , many others ) The C-119 had such a unique fuselage and wing structures it was really recognizable if you would see it coming from a distance .

    Rich

  2. #2
    I made one jump in my life...so am no Paratrooper, but am the proud Son of one!
    My Dad jumped out of C-119's in Jump School at Ft. Campbell and in the 101st Airborne Div. ('59-'63) Later in the National Guard with the 19th SFG(A). He was a big Fan of the C-119. I can't find his Jump-Log at the moment but think he had 26 Jumps from a 119. He jumped the normal jump doors and I believe out the back with the clamshell doors removed on at least one occasion. Dad always said the 119 was a "Good Jump" because the jump doors were angled back enough it was an easy exit with combat equipment on. On the other hand he really Loved the C-130 because of the "vigorous" exit it gave you as you cleared the deflector and hit the Prop-Blast. In his career he Jumped the 119,123,124,130,C-47,C-46,Caribou,C-141, Beaver and UH-1 Hueys. His Favorite was by far the "Herc" but the 119 was his second favorite for AIRBORNE operations. He had great stories about the 119 sitting on the runway, engines at Takeoff power struggling to gain enough speed to launch itself and its cargo of Airborne Soldiers into the sky. Said they'd chant "Fly, Fly Fly" and lift their feet up like they were trying to help it leave the ground. He talked about bouncing around the sky for hours on big Divisional jumps. Said by the time they were approaching the Drop Zone, all you wanted to do was "un-ass" the airplane and get on the ground. Dad was not an Airplane guy...and though he'd never admit it, I'm not sure he was that fond of Flying. But you get him talking about the airplanes he Jumped from and his voice would crack with emotion and his eyes would fill with tears of respect. He never really understood my flying. But when I spoke of the airplanes and my Love of a particular Flying machine... I think finally he could relate to my aviation experiences. My Dad was my Hero, and I miss him more than words can express...

  3. #3
    Hi Crusader,

    I only know 2 people who jumped from the Boxcar my father and Col Wood and I remember him saying that it wasn't much fun. I've jump C130, C141, Huey, Black Hawk, Chinook, Caribou and I consider the Mass Tac



    night jumps the most hazardous to personnel when jumping full kit with T10s or -1s in any ac. If you were jumping less than a 1000 ft which was very common for my unit at night there was little chance of deploying your reserve chute if something happened.

    Even less if you were entangled with another jumper which happened to me more than I want to remember. One good thing about jumping low was your decent was over in a couple of minutes if that. The one bad thing when jumping low is you have a couple of seconds to react to main malfunction or entanglement.

    Fortunately I was never seriously injured like some of my friends. Terrible injuries including all types of breaks, tears and of course death. My old roommate being one who was killed jumping.

    Day, night and unit size is what I considered the most important factors when it came to which type of jump I like most. Day jumps and water jumps with no kit are the most fun and night mass tac's on a cold night were the worst if it was more than your company.

    Helo's are always fun because you can only get so many jumpers out of one.

    If it was night Regiment Mass Tac then there was a good chance of high altitude entanglements.

    That's when we lost the most folks to injuries and fatalities.

    Personally I'm glad I never jumped out of that AC (C119) and I to consider the C130 my personal favorite. Of course a day jump with no kit is always best, but back in those days it was always night blasts with full kit.

    Believe me if you were one of the last AC over the DZ you ended up bouncing all over the place. Jumpers would start getting airsick and start puking which then spread like wild fire to other jumpers and that always upset the aircrews because we normally ate a lot of chow before going on ops!

    Sometimes if the winds were blowing too high you might end up race tracking around the DZ and then it was pure hell for anyone jumping until you finally got a green light and you could exit the ac or they actually called off the jump which did happen from time to time.

    Only thing keeping you on your feet was knowing it would all be over if you got out of the ac and that static line which you were using to support yourself when you were weighed down with so much gear that your team mates would load it on your back. Forget about getting the safety wire in the static line hook!

    Many nights we would jump and speed march 15 miles or so back to the unit and sit around wondering why the hell we do this ****. Nothing fun about tactical jumping when there's that many jumpers in the air at night with T10s'

    I seldom got sick, but there was one night when I ended up puking all over myself and basically fell down on the deck of the ac and crawled out on all fours with a red light on cause I was too sick to care. No static line control either I'm lucky I didn't break my neck!

    Mustang my father served with the 101st from the late 50s to mid 60s. He was with the 187th Infantry Regiment (Rakkasans). I have some art work he created and will try to find his painting that he did for the HQ of the 101st which is there today I believe.

    I served with Co.C 1/508th 82nd and Co.A 2nd Bn/19th SFG and a number of US Marine units. So your dad and I have a few things in common.

    Much respect to your father. I remember Colonel Wood saying to me that you don't know what a real jump is until you jump from the Boxcar. Only one I have seen is sitting right next to the ac (Douglas C-47 Skytrain) in that picture that I posted which was taken at the 82nd museum.



    Sorry the image is sideways. This painting is on steel and is a mix of airbrush and oils with a grinding wheel that polished the metal to give a certain effect. I've only seen this picture of it as my father was living in Florida when he created this and decided to send it to Ft Campbell to the HQ. Its over 3ft tall to give you an idea of scale.





    This is my pop who loved jumping and continued to sky dive after leaving the service until his death in 06. He was a master of many trades could build firearms, paint and pretty much fix anything. One of his older skills was boxing and he boxed in the Army and was a fierce opponent.

    Like you I miss my father.
    Last edited by Creepy847; March 31st, 2017 at 22:36.

  4. #4
    Creepy847 - Thank You for your Service....
    Dad was ABU A1/327 and Incredibly proud of his time with the 327th and of course the 101st Airborne during that timeframe. He really knew the History of the IBU/ABU and always did a lot to try and help preserve the unit history. He had an Abu tattooed on his left calf. He served with some really Incredible men. Many I got to meet myself and they all lived up to the legends that Dad told over the years. Leo B. Smith, Milton McQueenie, John T. Humphries, Ken Yeisley , Dave Snyder. (Can't believe all these names come right to me) These guys went to Vietnam with the 327th. Many were wounded and saw a lot of action. Dad was in the 8th SFG(A) in Panama and missed the show. He always wished he would have went with "Abu" to help them do the job in Vietnam. Looking back I know that he would have done that if he could have done it over again. He loved the challenges, and was a natural when the Special Forces opportunity presented itself. It was a place where someone with his unconventional ways allowed him to excel. He was the Senior NCO that Stood up Company H, 19th SFG in '68. Was the only guy there for quite some time with Active Duty SF Qualification. He trained up a lot of Guardsmen and made real unconventional warriors out of them. The guys he served with there really respected him and his demolitions abilities. That group was well represented at his Funeral. Dad couldn't comprehend that what he helped start with that unit. A bunch of weekend warriors initially, really laid the foundation for what Special Forces National Guard is today. He couldn't believe the 19th was over augmenting Active Duty SF Groups in the field and doing it with distinction. Dad was invited by the 19th on a couple occasions so they could pay tribute to the ones who formed them up and Dad always felt he was just a distraction there. Didn't realize why Colonels and Generals and everyone made a fuss over his being there. He was an active Life member of both the 101st ABN Association and the SF Association. Went to a lot of reunions and Loved seeing his AIRBORNE friends. I met quite a few "Rakkasans" while accompanying him to these reunions. He ate that stuff up....

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by MustangL2W View Post
    Creepy847 - Thank You for your Service....
    Dad was ABU A1/327 and Incredibly proud of his time with the 327th and of course the 101st Airborne during that timeframe. He really knew the History of the IBU/ABU and always did a lot to try and help preserve the unit history. He had an Abu tattooed on his left calf. He served with some really Incredible men. Many I got to meet myself and they all lived up to the legends that Dad told over the years. Leo B. Smith, Milton McQueenie, John T. Humphries, Ken Yeisley , Dave Snyder. (Can't believe all these names come right to me) These guys went to Vietnam with the 327th. Many were wounded and saw a lot of action. Dad was in the 8th SFG(A) in Panama and missed the show. He always wished he would have went with "Abu" to help them do the job in Vietnam. Looking back I know that he would have done that if he could have done it over again. He loved the challenges, and was a natural when the Special Forces opportunity presented itself. It was a place where someone with his unconventional ways allowed him to excel. He was the Senior NCO that Stood up Company H, 19th SFG in '68. Was the only guy there for quite some time with Active Duty SF Qualification. He trained up a lot of Guardsmen and made real unconventional warriors out of them. The guys he served with there really respected him and his demolitions abilities. That group was well represented at his Funeral. Dad couldn't comprehend that what he helped start with that unit. A bunch of weekend warriors initially, really laid the foundation for what Special Forces National Guard is today. He couldn't believe the 19th was over augmenting Active Duty SF Groups in the field and doing it with distinction. Dad was invited by the 19th on a couple occasions so they could pay tribute to the ones who formed them up and Dad always felt he was just a distraction there. Didn't realize why Colonels and Generals and everyone made a fuss over his being there. He was an active Life member of both the 101st ABN Association and the SF Association. Went to a lot of reunions and Loved seeing his AIRBORNE friends. I met quite a few "Rakkasans" while accompanying him to these reunions. He ate that stuff up....
    Def would have liked to meet your dad.

    I have nothing but respect for these men!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Check this out when you have time. Good read.

    https://books.google.com/books?id=v7...%2FABU&f=false

  6. #6
    My Father served as a Captain in The 82nd Airborne Division during the mid to late 60's. He had nothing good to say about the 119 ... he hated them ! Mike

  7. #7
    I, myself never made a "real" jump, but I went through Ejection Seat training at Pensacola. Good friend of my father was OIC of Survival Training at Pensacola when I first joined the Corps, and I took 3 weeks of leave so he could run me through the whole she-bang. Dilbert Dunker, Eject Seat into water training, even SEER school. I won't say it was all FUN, but boy did I have a blast
    I got some funny looks from my "classmates", since they were almost all Officers, and I was a L/CPL at the time...

    That's when we lost the most folks to injuries and fatalities.
    I am sorry for any losses you suffered. It's always tough to loose a member of one's unit, I know, but to loose them during training is always the worst. Not even an enemy to blame it on, just...bad luck (or stupidity on someone's part).
    Having said that, there's a song comes to mind, thinking of loosing a paratrooper: Ohhhh Lord, what a helluva way to die...

    Good luck to all! And thank you all for your service! I mean that sincerely
    Pat☺
    Fly Free, always!
    Sgt of Marines
    USMC, 10 years proud service.
    Inactive now...

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by PhantomTweak View Post
    I, myself never made a "real" jump, but I went through Ejection Seat training at Pensacola. Good friend of my father was OIC of Survival Training at Pensacola when I first joined the Corps, and I took 3 weeks of leave so he could run me through the whole she-bang. Dilbert Dunker, Eject Seat into water training, even SEER school. I won't say it was all FUN, but boy did I have a blast
    I got some funny looks from my "classmates", since they were almost all Officers, and I was a L/CPL at the time...


    I am sorry for any losses you suffered. It's always tough to loose a member of one's unit, I know, but to loose them during training is always the worst. Not even an enemy to blame it on, just...bad luck (or stupidity on someone's part).
    Having said that, there's a song comes to mind, thinking of loosing a paratrooper: Ohhhh Lord, what a helluva way to die...

    Good luck to all! And thank you all for your service! I mean that sincerely
    Pat☺
    Semper Fi Phantom!

  9. #9
    SOH-CM-2022 Crusader's Avatar
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    Phantom , sometimes you just got to wonder about some of those who are about to pin their " Butter Bars " on

    Semper Fi Phantom ,

    Rich

  10. #10
    Hey (Keith) Creepy! Is that you??? where you been son?

    mal

  11. #11
    Thanks, guys!
    SemperFi all my brothers (and sisters )

    Pat☺
    Fly Free, always!
    Sgt of Marines
    USMC, 10 years proud service.
    Inactive now...

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by mal998 View Post
    Hey (Keith) Creepy! Is that you??? where you been son?

    mal
    Hi Mal,

    just getting older good to see ya. God the years go by.

    I'm only running Prepar3d now. Haven't flown with anyone in years its been offline only.

    Ill send you my new phone number in a pm.

    Creeps.



  13. #13
    Paratroopers.

    "Hey, let's leave this nice, comfortable and safe aircraft because why not?"
    "Hey, let's land in this tree because command screwed up our drop zone again!"
    "Hey, let's haul 500 lbs of equipment around the battlefield!"
    "Hey, let's play infantry and eat some dirt!"
    "Hey, let's play cavalry with our totally not armoured vehicles!"

    I suspect a subconscious deathwish or a mild case of insanity. Or both. More prevalent than for mechanized "Hey, let's get out of our AFW to draw enemy fire away from it!" infantry.

    (Most paras I've met on and off duty kind of prove my point.)


    Regards,
    the meat content of a tracked "Hey, over here! I'm a tank, I'm a tank!" bullseye.

  14. #14
    God, it's good to hear your voice man...I missed 'ya. I'll call and we'll catch up. I have P3D setup so maybe we can do some multiplayer.

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