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Paratroopers remember the jump into Iraq
Great story that I’ve psoted about before. Here are some quotes:

The March 26, 2003 jump was recently classified as a combat jump and the paratroopers who participated in it will now be able to stick their chests out with pride showing off the gold star, or “mustard stain,” that crowns their parachutist wings.

“The mood in the plane was really serious. It looked like everybody had their head in the game,” Allen said. “I was concentrating on what I was supposed to do once I got on the ground.”

Sixty seconds later, the Globemasters, empty of their cargo, were climbing out of the valley and the Iraqi army had a thousand more American Soldiers to deal with.

“When light came and I saw the country, it was nothing like I thought Iraq was going to be; it was beautiful,” Allen said.

“The Peshmerga guys brought us firewood, rice in an old oil pan, bread and cheese, and some mystery meat,” Holbrook said. “We didn’t care what it was; we were hungry.”

“I was impressed by their generosity,” Deaconson added. “They had nothing to give, but what little they did have, they would always share. I mean, here they are bringing us bags of bread and tea when we started running low on water and MRE’s.”

“Every time I see pictures of it or hear someone talking about it, I just keep thinking, ‘what a day!’” exclaimed Allen.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-03-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=28962