Normandy vet sings "Blood on the Risers/Paratrooper thread. Any jumpers?

I was airborne back in the day. Great experience.

Yes.

With the amount of info/videos, etc available today on the WWW, I am torn with emotion.

My dad served in WWII from 6/19/41 - 9/28/45 in the Pacific theater...along with two of his brothers.
My mom brother was in the 101st and dropped into Normandy, Market Garden, etc.

I never heard any of them talk abouth the "horrors" of war, only the good times and funny things.

The "I am torn with emotion" part is, how would it effect them today if they were alive and able to see all the stuff that is now out there for the viewing.

My fear would be it would be too emotional for them.

There was a man that worked on a pile driving crew for us in the 70’s. He was in his mid 50’s or early 60’s. He jumped at Normandy when he was 17 years old.

The man was a walking muscle. Worked on boats and a truck farm since he was a child.

He was incredibly strong as I watched him stab 60’ creosote piling and handle the leads. He was strong and tough , didnt take any shite, killed many men.

He was also a very kind gentleman with an absolutely beautiful wife and family from down the bayou.

He got along pretty good with the folks in France because he could speak French. It was his first language.

He was called upon for his French speaking by officers above him. He was also n great demand because he could speak French to facilitate back room deals. The world is crooked. Always has been ,always will be.

I was a Coscom rigger in the nineties.

The 82nd is something of a family business on my fathers side. My family likes to say we have had at least one officer serving in the 82nd since before it was designated an Airborne unit in '42 but my research shows we missed about 3 years in the late 70s.

My father was in the 504th that crossed the Rhine in the spring of '45 and set up in Hitdorf (sp?). His company earned a Presidential Unit Citation for the action.

The one thing I have on all the living 82nd relatives is I have a mustard stain (combat jump). I was in the 1-504 when we jumped into Panama (Operation Just Cause) in '89. It was the first 82nd combat jump since WWII and the largest combat jump since Market Garden. IIRC the only other mass combat jump since then was Operation Northern Delay in 2003 which was primarily 173d troopers.

I suppose my best personal story is jumping out of a C-141 at night at under 500 feet watching tracer fire criss-cross around me. Honestly, the most I can remember about that few seconds is hoping I didn't piss myself and praying my main inflated because making the decision, cutting away, and getting a reserve inflated was near impossible at the altitude. I truly was more worried about getting to the ground in a semi-controlled manner than I was about getting shot. This changed abruptly the second my boots touched the ground.

As combat goes mine in OJC and ODS were tame compared to those that went before and those that came after particular kicking doors in GWOT. Most people wearing a CIB went through a lot worse even if they were never grazed for that little bit of chest candy.

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My cousin is a jumper. He says it's "a flood of the most primal fear followed by euphoria followed by anxiety to land."

Just a wild concept. To hear him talk about the jumpers doing it in combat zones...those were some hard, hard men.

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We haven't done combat jumps since when?

My great grandfather was in the 101st. Jumped in Normandy and Market Garden. Fought in in the Bulge too. He died in the early 80's so I never met him.

I have his jump wings and some photos from training in Toccoa, GA.