Free Republic

TAMPA, Fla. (June 3) - Capt. Sam Gibbons knew his mission was in trouble when he hit the ground in the early hours of the D-Day invasion 63 years ago. The future congressman's 101st Airborne troops were scattered far from their intended drop zone. And the only nearby soldiers he could see where German. "People are always talking about behind enemy lines. Hell, there ain't no lines in combat," said Gibbons, who was 24 when he parachuted into Normandy on June 6, 1944. "We jumped right on top of the Germans." On the ground, in the dark, the scattered American...

Here is a video report on the plan for close to 10,000 U.S. Military Personnel to be on the ground in Haiti, or on ships just offshore by Monday. The speed with which everything can be put in place is being hampered there by the fact that the Port-Au-Prince Airport has only one usable runway, and there are so many planes needing to use it. An entire brigade of 3,500 from the 82nd Airborne is expected to be on the ground by this weekend to provide security in the devastated area. The Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Carl Vinson should arrive on...

POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C., Dec. 24, 2009 – You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. But on Dec. 6, it was not a team of reindeer, but Air Force Maj. Jeff Dasher, a navigator in the 95th Airlift Squadron here, who guided the mission for the 440th Airlift Wing's C-130 Hercules that flew a group of “Soldier Santas” across the morning sky. The first paratrooper to jump waits for the "green light" on board a C-130 Hercules Dec. 6, 2009, above Fort Bragg, N.C.. Crews from the National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing from Charlotte, N.C., and the...

An Iraqi Soldier exits a U.S. Marine helicopter during joint air-assault training between Iraqi Commandos and Scouts, and Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), Nov. 15, on Camp Ramadi. Photo by Spc. Mike MacLeod, 82nd Airborne Division. CAMP RAMADI — Iraqi Commandos and Reconnaissance Scouts partnered with the "All American" paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division here, Nov. 15, to train for future joint helicopter air-assault operations. The 1st Iraqi Army Division Soldiers trained with Paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), on loading and...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-168 Governor Palin Mourns Loss of Fort Richardson Paratroopers July 6, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin offered her condolences to the family and friends of two Fort Richardson soldiers who died in Afghanistan. Private First Class Aaron E. Fairbairn, 20, of Aberdeen, Washington, died Saturday of injuries sustained from small arms and indirect fire. Private First Class Justin A. Casillas, 19, of Dunnigan, California, also died Saturday in the same attack. “These soldiers served with honor and courage,” Governor Palin said. “Both will be remembered as true American heroes. Todd and I offer the...

SAINTE MERE EGLISE, France -- It was the middle of the night and the town of Sainte Mere Eglise was on fire. Occupied by the Germans since June 18, 1940, the town had survived several allied air raids. A stray incendiary bomb from one of those raids had set a building near the town square on fire and it was spreading. The townspeople formed a chain to ferry water from the pump in the town square to the fire. At about 1:30 a.m. that day -- June 6, 1944 -- the sky filled with hundreds of American paratroopers from the...

FORT POLK, La., May 22, 2009 – Early morning in the combat outpost was like that hour before sun up on a Louisiana frog pond, with rumbling, bullfrog snores and socks stinking like pond muck from days of bathing in boot dust and sweat. Carried on the morning dew, the smell of 40 grimy infantrymen racked out in a room too small for morning vapors best described as weaponized funk. Army 2nd Lt. John J. Griffin leads his platoon in partnership with role-playing Iraqi security forces to provide security to the fictitious town of Suliyah prior to the opening...

BELADIYAT, Iraq, March 17, 2009 – A month after a Colorado boy collected his toys and sent them to Iraq, a group of U.S. Army paratroopers distributed the items to children in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood yesterday. Army Spc. Greg Moreland hands a stuffed animal to an Iraqi girl at the Abuthare and Rufayda Elementary School in eastern Baghdad, March 16, 2009. Moreland gave the toys to the children on behalf of his pen pal, Jacob Poehls, 8, of Summit Cove, Colo. Jacob donated his toys to the children of Iraq. His hometown also donated Girl Scout cookies and...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2008 – More than 1,000 students, teachers and parents crowded into a Fort Mitchell, Ky., school auditorium Oct. 24 to thank Army paratroopers and their families from Fort Bragg, N.C., for their service. Army Spc. Mike Gaither enjoys a handmade card from a Beechwood Elementary School student. Photo courtesy of Beechwood Support Our Troops  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Fort Mitchell community “adopted” the 82nd Airborne Division’s Company B, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, several years ago after learning about America Supporting Americans, a group that connects communities with...

KORENGAL VALLEY, Afghanistan, July 12, 2008 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday took the opportunity to present 12 paratroopers with awards here for valorous and heroic achievements in combat. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen pinned five Army Commendation Medals with valor devices, five Purple Heart Medals, one Bronze Star with valor device, and one Silver Star on the troopers’ chests during a ceremony at their combat outpost here. “It’s an honor and privilege to be here,” Mullen said to the awardees. “This ceremony is about individuals who represent the sacrifice of so many.” The paratroopers are assigned...

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2008 – President Bush saluted thousands of soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division during his visit to Fort Bragg, N.C., today. The president cited the soldiers’ distinguished service in Afghanistan and Iraq. “This is the first time since 2006 that five brigades from your division have assembled together,” Bush remarked to troops after performing an in-ranks review of the division. Many of the paratroopers Bush addressed had recently completed 15-month deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. “We’ve asked a lot of you,” Bush told the soldiers, noting they’ve “achieved difficult objectives in a new kind...

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Jan. 24, 2008 – With Task Force Saber paratroopers acting as a continuing liaison with schools in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Nuristan provinces, a partnership that began in May is helping educate Afghan children. Task Force Saber soldiers have supplied a tent for these Afghan students and their teacher. Very few schools in Afghanistan’s Kunar province have buildings. Photo by Capt. Jay VanDenbos, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The partnership links children and schools in Afghanistan with children and schools primarily in the United States, Italy and Germany to provide Afghan children with pens, pencils,...

In a scene all too familiar to US Servicemen past and present, a UH-60 MEDEVAC Helicopter, always call signed Dust-off, evacuates US Army Paratroopers and Afghan Army soldiers who were ambushed near Forward Operating Base Bella in November. The team of soldiers, comprised of Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, soldiers from the Afghan National Army, and two Afghan interpreters, had traveled less than 2 miles on foot to a nearby town of Aranas in the mountainous Nuristan Province. They set out early in the morning for what was supposed to be a positive and productive day of Shuras with...

At one point, a mission went wrong and Cesario’s father was cut off from the rest of his platoon. For three days, he had to hack it out of the jungle alone, with the Vietcong in hot pursuit. But even on the run, he still managed to raise the flag each day.

School girls from the Dur-Mandali Primary School for Girls in the city of Balad-Ruz receive supplies from the family of fallen Paratrooper Spc. Michael Rodriguez. Spc. Rodriquez's family said he wrote home about the wonderful kids he had met and loved. Photo by 1st Lt. Scott Marler, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs. BALAD-RUZ — The note read, “The school supplies that we are giving you today are from the family of a Soldier who died in Iraq, who loved the children of Iraq. His name is Specialist Michael Rodriguez.” The speaker is Capt. James Goethals,...

One hundred forty-one paratroopers from 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division re-enlisted Oct. 14 on Forward Operating Base Kalsu in a ceremony conducted by Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commanding general of Multi-National Division–Center. Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Marcus Butler 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — One hundred forty-one Paratroopers decided to stay Army in a mass re-enlistment ceremony held on Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Oct. 14. The Paratroopers from 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division made the decision to continue their service in the Army after being deployed for over...

BAGHDAD — Staff Sgt. Shane Glowcheski is normally a man of few words. Out on patrol, the platoon sergeant with the 82nd Airborne Division is all business, dark sunglasses and an unreadable expression on his face. But on a recent afternoon, as he described the renovations his unit was helping to make on a girls’ school in the northern section of Baghdad’s Adhamiyah District, Glowcheski’s poker face suddenly lit up with enthusiasm.“We got marble floors. We got computers. We got artwork up on the walls. We’ve even got gardens. It’s Beverly Hills!” boasted the Rapid City, S.D., native.Glowcheski and...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2007 – The tense paratroopers and Afghan National Army soldiers sat in silence surrounded by darkness. Scouts of the 173rd Airborne Brigade's 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, react as villagers below run after spotting the soldiers moving on the hillside during Operation Destined Strike in Chowkay Valley, Afghanistan Aug. 22, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon Aird  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The previous hours were spent huddled together rehearsing the mission, "Destined Strike," which was to be an air-assault into the Taliban's backyard. The whoop, whoop, whoop sound of the CH-47 "Chinook" helicopter's...

KALSU, Iraq — Iraqi Security Forces and Paratroopers captured a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist wanted for a string of attacks against the security forces and citizens in North Babil during Operation Marne Avalanche, August 5.The Iraqi Army, police and Paratroopers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division conducted an early morning raid in Snadeej near Jurf As Sukhr to capture the suspected insurgent.“More than 50 IPs, 20 IA soldiers and 50 paratroopers participated in the operation,” said Capt. Henry Moltz, commander of Company A and Midlothian, Texas native.  “The populace was very receptive...

CANON CITY, Colo. - A unit of 25 military paratroopers landed inside the perimeter of a state prison, but not to quell a riot or attempt some movie-script breakout. They just goofed. The paratroopers, armed with exercise rifles that shoot rubber bullets, landed in a corn field outside the Fremont Correctional Institute early Thursday, Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said. Guards escorted them off the grounds with no violence, she told the Rocky Mountain News. Sanguinetti said she did not know which military unit was involved. She said an investigation is under way but it appears guards handled...