[White Oak]

I went to jump school at Fort Benning in Oct 1968.I was assigned to the 43rd Company Student Brigade.Jump school is three weeks long and a very hard three weeks.It's been a long time but mostly I remember running everywhere and doing push-ups and push-ups and more push-ups.1st week is ground week,learning how to land,hanging in a harness to learn how to control the path to ground,laying on ground and having a large wind machine blow you across the ground to show you how to get out of chute after landing.2nd week is tower week,here you learn how to exit the aircraft properly and maintain a good body position from a 40 foot tower,also the 250 tower where you are taken up and dropped and practice landing.3rd week is jump week,2 jumps on monday,2 jumps on Tuesday and on Wedsday the last jump is a equipment jump(weapon,pack,etc)On Friday they pin the basic Parachute Wings on and you are officially a Paratrooper.My first 4 jumps was in a C-119 Aircraft and the last one was a C-130 Hercules.I didn't jump anymore until I came back from Vietnam and got sent to Germany to Bravo Company 1/509th Airborne Battalion.Here I jumped from UH1B Huey,C-141.My company went to England and went to British Jump school and got 7 jumps from a balloon and British wings.At 53 years of age now everyday my knees let me know that I was a paratrooper.Photo is in Company area at Fort Benning,I'm on the left sitting,can't remember the other guys names now.