WWII Paratrooper Group Photo

[Bogie1943]

There's nothin that can fill a room full of that cocky attitude then a bunch of AAF pilots and some Paratroopers, lol. Ya gotta love it fellas! I kinda feel like singing an old marching song, lol.

"Were really tough and ready, were raiders of the night
were dirt son's-a-bitches, we'd rather **** than fight,
we'll drink up all the whiskey, we'll drink up all the gin,
we'll take um to the shi***, and throw the bast**** in.....

I could keep going, but it just get's dirtier from there out, better keep it PG, lol, old Airbourne marching song, as we all know our boys always had colorful vocabularies, lol.

 

[dutch101st]

Think I will add to that...

"We pull upon the Risers
We land upon the grass,
We never land upon our feet,
We always hit our ass.

Hidee Hydee Christ almighty
who the hell are we?
Rim-ram Gawddamn
We're Parchute infantry!"

Hey Haliburton- ya ought to try jumping at 1500 ft AGL under military round canopy- AWESOME FEELING!

Howie, Billy, and myself all jumped together this past summer and got our wings pinned together...got em pinned on by Tom ANderson, a real WWII Paratrooper who jumped on D-Day.

 

[Bogie1943]

I am glad to see I am not the only one who knows how that one goes, lol. There are differetn versions I have heard, all about the same but some more colorful than others, lol.

 

[dutch101st]

I am well versed on the 101st (duh), know some about the 82nd (should know more), but know very little about the 11th....I do kn ow they got one jump inot Germany that qualified for a combat jump (Capt. Lewis Nixon got his 4th combat star on that jump- he was an observer and the plane he was in got hit...he barely made it out). Outside of that, I dont know too much.

I have a weblink at work that I can post here Sunday when I get back to the office that has information on all of the Parachute Infantry Regiments that were deployed to the ETO...so standby to standby...

 

[DutchIndo]

I know this is a way old thread but I can't let you 101 and Brit airborne get all
the re-enacting glory ! I started back in the mid 80s when you couldn't find a decent Jump Suit ! In fact this prompted Juan Gonzales to make them for our
group the CHG. Now look ! We were in the 82nd, 505th (now defunct) and did
most of our battles in Big Bear. I got started after reading "As Eagles Sreamed"
This also prompted me to make jumps also at Perris Valley. At the time (80s) we
made our jumps with the old "junk gear" (T-10s). Static line none of this Tandem
jumping with an instructor. We're talking OLD SCHOOL ! In fact I have 25 jumps
out of a DC-3. I landed in the DC-3 once due to a fatality. The other jumps in
various AC even an old highwing Howard with the Glide ratio of 1 to 1 ! Like
most of us old Re-enactors were glad that hobby got a big boost from BOB and
SPR. Unfortunately it drove the collector market through the roof.

 

[mikepara]

The pics...

don't seem to be working for me.
Michael, The patron Saint of Paratroopers must be preventing me from viewing and thus venting my scorn.

I don't mind you folks dressing up as and reenacting The Airborne, it's probably a fun hobby.

Just please don't start Walting. The real deal.

 

[DutchIndo]

WW II Paratrooper Group Photo

Mike sorry if I offended you, that is the reason why I eventually was kicked out of my group. I refused to march in a parade with a uniform I did not earn. It was
one thing to go in the backwoods where nobody sees you than to strut around
in jump wings I did not earn. I do respect your viewpoint. There is an old Bill
Mauldin cartoon from the War. It showed two Officers walking by a Para, one
officer says to the other " don't ask him to salute, he might ask us where we
got our boots " Wings are earned it's not about jumping out of planes. I jumped
with petite ladies with 1000s of jumps ! Airborne training is the toughest in the world. You have my respect. I was born in Nijmegen and was there a few years
ago and saw the Bridge. I also visited Arhnem, Hartenstein hotel and that
Bridge. To see the cemetery with all those young Paras was moving. These men
were the same as my son and younger. I can't imagine losing my son at that
age. So to you Mike and all your Airborne brothers I humbly apologize.
Glen

 

[mikepara]

Glen...

Oh no, please don't think I'm offended by people having fun portraying Paratroops or other troops of any nation. If it's for fun and a bit of historic reenactment thats fine.

Yes I earned my British wings the hard way and did the full US and Canadian courses too, not just a hollywood jump and back for tea and bloodwings more the pity!

What I object to is the reenactors strutting around pretending to all that'll listen that they where / are actual serving members of the Airborne , SAS, Rangers etc. Remember joe normal on average hasn't a clue about current military dress. If you walk and talk like a trooper then your a trooper, right? No actually. It does happen and I have had run ins with some of them. The veteran sites are full of exposed Walter Mitty pretenders.

Keep it respectful, accurate, historic and fun and most veterans regardless of age won't have a problem.