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| Squad Leader, 19 Yrs Old |
Aviation played
a role in my life early on, although in a different fashion. I was 17 years old when I graduated from high school
in 1972. At that time my one burning desire was to get out of Dodge. The home and family situation I was in, was
highly dysfunctional and even at 17 I knew I had to get out. When you're 17 and basically penniless, there aren't many
options and I took the only one that I thought would give me a semblance of structure and support because at my age I wasn't
close to taking on the world.
So I joined the US Army and for some unknown reason, other than
it seemed to be a swashbuckling move, I signed up for the Paratroops. Little did I know that the lessons learned during
my three year military carreer would tell me a lot about myself, more about others, would last me a lifetime
and have a major impact on making me the person I am today.
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| Ready For Action After A Jump |
So after a few months of Basic and Advanced Training at Fort Dix,
New Jersey and Fort Jackson, South Carolina, I was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for Jump School. I was 18 now and
ready. When I joined the army I weighed 124 lbs, and here it was 5 months later and I was about 150 lbs...still
growing, but I was in great shape. And I would need to be, Jump School at Benning is some of the most intense
physical training a person can undergo. The mental challenge is staying focused and not allowing the neverending
physical rigors to get the better of you.
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| Distinguished Honor Graduate |
Jump School was a challenge from start to finish, but I did well
and won Distinguished Honor Graduate of my class. To this day it's one of the proudest moments of my life.
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| Lee Barracks, Mainz, Germany |
From Fort Benning I was shipped to the 1st Battalion of the 509th, the only
Airborne Unit in Europe. I was stationed at Lee Barracks, in Mainz, Germany.
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| Armored Personnel Carrier, Playing Cards |
Part of being a Paratrooper is being the best you can possibly be.
It is drilled into your head from the moment you get to Jump School and it follows you throughout your military career.
Second best is never good enough. In retrospect, I don't know if we actually were "the best", but we certainly
believed we were and that's all that mattered.
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| C-130 Jump |
It's similar to the quote I have from Henry Ford on this website's home page, "Whether you
think you can or whether you think you can't...you're right." We definitely thought we could and truly believed there
was only one outcome possible and it was never good for the other side.
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| C-130 Jump |
I was in the Infantry and more specifically my specialty was Anti-Tank. My
weapon was a TOW Missile, which was shot from an Armored Personnel Carrier or a Jeep. It was wire guided and could hit
a moving target a mile away. It was a devastating weapon and is still used today.
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| TOW Missile, Jeep Gun |
After eight months in Germany our unit was transferred to Northern Italy.
Our post was called Boscomantico (The Rock) and was on the outskirts of Verona, the city of Romeo & Juliett, about one
hour south of Venice. Our post was a small airfield previously used by the Italian Air Force. The Combat Support
Company of which the Anti-Tank platoon was a component consisted of about 300 men and we had Verona all to ourselves.
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| Foothills Of The Italian Alps |
It was a wonderful assignment. This pic is what I saw every morning when I looked out
my window.
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| Barracks At Boscomantico |
Although soldiers, we lived an idyllic life. The cameraderie and closeness
I felt with this group of men I have never duplicated in my life. We were truly a Band Of Brothers. It was
a special bond and there are still many I am in touch with today.
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| Relief!!! |
There is no greater feeling in the world, and I mean none...without exception,
than getting to your 4/1000 count...looking up and seeing this sight...because at that precise moment you know... you will
live to see another day.
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| Jeep With TOW Missile |
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| Our Base: Boscomantico Airfield |
As I said our base was a former Italian Air Force Base, this is a pic...our
barracks were the buildings at the upper right side of the large white asphalt rectangle. We were stationed here
because the Riggers were part of our Company and they used the large hangars to pack the chutes and rig our vehicles
for heavy drops...not all of which worked (see pic below).
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| Jeep That Didn't Survive A Heavy Drop |
For the most part the Riggers were pretty good guys, but before a jump I
always looked at my chute's log book (which was attached in a small pocket) to see who packed it, just to make sure it
was one of the guys who seemed to be focused!!
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| Sardinia Jump |
Along the way I became a Squad Leader. It didn't take me long
to figure out the concept of "team" and I have taken that with me through life. No individual can be more important
than the group. Individually people may be vulnerable and susceptible to outside forces. Put individuals together
who have different strengths and a very strong group emerges; the group will make up for lack of individual strength
in certain areas. To me, the sum of the team was always greater than the individual parts. I never forget that.
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| Chinook Jump |
There was a period in my life that although I went flying all the time...I
never landed. We jumped from a variety of aircraft, C-141 Jets, C-130's (lots of these), Huey Helicopters and one jump
from a Chinook Helicopter...which was my all time favorite because it was my only stand up landing.
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| Chinook Helicopter |
Our chutes were not designed to drop slowly, otherwise in a combat jump you
may not reach the ground. I believe the descent was something like 26 feet a second, so mostly we landed like sacks
of potatoes. There were no style points.
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| Huey Helicopter Jump |
At Boscomantico we jumped from Huey Helicopters and the airfield was our
drop zone. I never like things out of my control and one thing that made me nervous about Huey's was, the Jumpmaster
hooked up your static line...not you; because you sit on the edge of the door and can't reach far enough behind.
I recall one jump, watching from the ground, as the Huey's crossed the DZ and the jumpers started going...the third guy out,
we could see the static line trailing behind him, everyone watched breathlessly...counting...at 4/1000...your chute should
be open...we counted 5/1000, 6/1000, 7/1000...the jumper finally realized he had a problem and we saw the reserve chute come
out. WOW!!
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| Float Like A Butterfly |
The 509th no longer exists, it was absorbed by the 82nd Airborne. The
base at Boscomantico is no longer occupied and is mostly grown over with weeds. I will never forget the time I
spent there. The local Italians were wonderful people and several of my friends married there. Today, there is
an Italian flying club that operates the small airport and gives flight lessons. Soon, I plan to go back; I will
bring my log book and take a lesson from a local Italian CFI.
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I'm going to add other pictures I get from time to time from other Soldiers
who served at Boscomantico. This site has generated some emails from folks I had long lost track of. Here are
a few from Craig Gower, who ended up marrying a local Italian girl and lived in Italy for quite a while. Both his
sons speak fluent Italian.
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| Craig Gower |
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| Captain Robert vaughn & Craig |
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| The Bosco Football Team. Excellent ass kicking team!! |
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| Training with the Green Berets, Bad Tolz, Germany. |
In February, 1975 the TOW Platoon went to Bad Tolz, Germany to train for a week with
the Green Berets. This pic was taken after a very long rubber raft trip that I remember as being cold as hell.
Those are dry suits we're wearing, can't sink with those on. I am second in from left on the front row, down on my right
knee.
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All Metal, Wheels, Floats Or Skis, Robust
Bushplane
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