The Wind The Blast: Sometimes You Win

By Freeman Boise

Born sixth in a family of eight children, I grew up poor, graduated high school at seventeen. I could not find a job. I had to be at least eighteen to work on a machine. I tried to get dad to sign me in the Army, but he said no. So I waited until I was eighteen. The next day, I went and joined the Army Airborne. Now I had to join the Airborne because you get extra money for jumping, and I needed that. I made a promise I would try to help my family if I could, so I sent four allotments home: one to Dad, one to my sister, one to my grandmother, and one to my brother who had gotten into trouble. I was a good soldier. I could do it all—I could outrun, outwalk, outshoot, outshine my boots, outmarch—you name it, I could do it! The guys said I had an angel in my pocket to be able to do the things I did. What do you think?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781646282029

Book preview

cover.jpg

The Wind The Blast

Sometimes You Win

Freeman Boise

Copyright © 2022 Freeman Boise

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-64628-201-2 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-64628-202-9 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Jump School

The Blast

Main Post

School

Muster Roll Call

Jump School

In order to become a paratrooper, you had to finish jump school. Jump school was three weeks. The last week, you had to make five jumps. After you made the five jumps, they would have a parade for graduation. Well, let me tell you, I was one proud, proud airborne soldier, because that was where you got your wings. Now they weren’t just any wings; they are called blood wings—you can’t buy them. They are government issue only, and the only way to get those wings is you have to earn them.

Now let me tell you how you’d look for graduation. You’d have on your light-brown army shirt, long sleeves, and long pants. Your pants were bloused into your boots, the boots that you spit shined all night. They were shined so much you could almost see your face in them. Your pants were bloused over the top of the boots neatly and evenly. On the shirt, on one arm, you had a braid that was ruby and green; on the other arm, you had the airborne infantry braid. It was light blue now. Also on the shirt over the left pocket, at graduation, they pin on your blood wings. You wore a brown cap with a circle. In the circle, it was blue, to represent the infantry, and a pair of white wings in the center; and let me tell you, you were one sharp airborne infantry soldier. It doesn’t get any better than that. I was one proud, proud soldier.

Now as an airborne soldier, or should I say an airborne infantry soldier, you would jump regularly once every three months at least. You had to jump once every three months in order to get jump pay, which was fifty-five dollars a month extra. Now you still had to be an infantry soldier as well as a trooper. Now I remember a few jumps. One time, we were flying around, because they always flew us around before we hit the blast. Well, on this particular blast, there was a sergeant who had had trouble with some of the men, and he had gotten two of them busted. They said they were going to get him on this particular jump, so while we were flying around, one of them got up, walked to the front of the plane, which was past the sergeant, slowed down when they got in front of the sergeant, took out a long hairpin, which the sergeant could see, then walked back to their seats. Both soldiers did it twice. Now when it’s time to jump, the command is Stand up.

Hook up, stand in the door, and go. Now if somebody doesn’t jump, the jumpmaster has to grab him, pull him out of the way, and unhook him so that the rest of the troops can jump. So the jumpmaster said, Stand up, hook up, stand in the door. So the troops started jumping out the door, but when it got to that sergeant, he froze and wouldn’t jump, so the jumpmaster had to unhook him and pull him out of the way so the rest of us could go. So I jumped. I don’t know what happened to that sergeant, but I was told that if you freeze, they’d transfer you out of the airborne. That was one jump I remember.

Another jump I remember: it was supposed to be a big drop, I think, something like eighteen planes. I was in the third plane, so they followed us around like they always