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16 August - National Airborne Day
Today in the United States is National Airborne Day, proclaimed as such by President George W. Bush on 16 August 2002. This was his proclamation:
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There are members of this Forum with a LOT more military parachute jumps than I have (Mike Bauer and JohnM just to name two), but in 1971-72, I was a member of what may have been the world's smallest airborne unit, the United Nations Command Unconventional Warfare Detachment (Airborne)(Provisional). Both of us jumped regularly with the Republic of Korea Special Forces, usually from Huey helicopters, but a couple of times from an elderly ROK Air Force Curtiss C-46. Since there were absolutely no safety precautions on Han River Drop Zone Number One, my youngest son was able to watch my last jump and to come out onto the drop zone to carry my helmet off the field. In the last image, he is wearing miniature jump wings, miniature Naval Aviator wings (given to him by one of our friends when he had his tonsils removed at the 12st Evacuation Hospital several month earlier), and a Special Forces beret (not mine - I wasn't a member of the SF). I have posted these images before, but feel compelled to post them again on this day. Don Last edited by rickstef; 08-16-2020 at 07:26 PM. |
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Don
I have never jumped from a perfectly good airplane. Hats off to you and other jumpers. Isaac
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My gallery [http://www.papermodelers.com/gallery...v-r-6&cat=500] Recent buildsMeteor F1, Meteor F8, Mig-Ye8, NA Sabre, A-4E Skyhawk,Mig-15 red, Mig-17 repaint |
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N e a t !
Bp |
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Nice Don that you have those photos.
I can count the photos of me when I was in the military in no more then two hands! For some reason non were really taken - with the fact it was difficult to obtain film playing no doubt a huge part. Wish I had more! Or digital cameras existed!
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The SD40 is 55 now! |
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Wow, that... is the kind of picture that would have popped into my head if somebody describes 'a US soldier'. For someone who can't be more removed from the military, it is eye-opening to be able to hear these experiences first hand. Thank you Don for sharing.
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"The world is big" On hold: Fuyuzuki, Zao, Zara, Akizuki, Past works: XP55 Ascender, CA Ibuki, Seafang F32, IS-3, Spitfire V, J-20 |
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What gives a bigger thrill than a DD parachute jump? A DD with an Irving Delta 2 Parawing in 1960 ... then succeeding in making it go back up from 500ft to 1000ft!
It wasn't until the Para-Commander came out in the mid-60s that the venerable sport of Paragliding was invented. Now even kids are doing it with parafoils.. PS. for Isaac ... Back in the day, we rarely jumped out of perfectly serviceable aircraft either. RAF Hastings and Beverly mainly. I'd rather jump than risk landing in them. A certain VC10 later became our favorite Mother Bird. We exited (more correctly ... fell out) when the co-pilot opened the nose wheel doors.
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Keep on snippin' ... Johnny |
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Don
Thanks for pointing this out as I was shamefully unaware. I won't forget as the 16th is my Dad's birthday. What great photos with your son. And thanks so much for your service. sp |
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Absolutely inspiring seeing you in action Don.
Great photos to have kept all these years. If you have any more to share, let em fly! Mike |
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There is a connection between all this and paper modeling. Aaron Murphy offers a Curtiss C-46 Commando in various liveries, including that of the ROK Air Force https://murphs-models.webs.com/curtiss-c-46-commando
Regrettably, I did not document the tail numbers of the C-46 (or C-46s - it may have been the same airplane or different ones) I jumped from, but Murph's model (10-541) looks just like the aircraft I remember. Don |
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Don you look like you were enjoying that!
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regards Glen |
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