National Airborne Day – 16 August

Aug 16

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“Airborne All the Way”

Author unknown

$_35

These men with silver wings

Troopers from the sky above

In whom devotion springs

What spirit so unites them?

In brotherhood they say

Their answer loud and clear.

“Airborne All the Way.”

 

 

 

These are the men of danger

As in open door they stand

With static line above them

And ripcord in their hand.

While earthbound they are falling

A silent prayer they say

“Lord be with us forever,

Airborne All the Way.”

One day they’ll make their final jump

Saint Mike will tap them out

The good Lord will be waiting

He knows what they’re about

And answering in unison

He’ll hear the troopers say

“We’re glad to be aboard, Sir,

Airborne All the Way!”

 

 

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For another outstanding poem in honor of the U.S. Army Airborne – Please visit, Lee at ……

https://mypoetrythatrhymes.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/happy-birthday-us-army-airborne/

Click on images to enlarge.

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Personal Note – icon_lol

Please check out the honor365 site– they have honored Smitty  !!!!

I was very proud that they requested dad’s information.

 

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Military Humor –

 

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Farewell Salutes –

Melvin Alsager – Mount Home, ID; US Air Force, 28th Recon Squadron

Harold Davis – Zanesville, OH; US Army, WWII, PTO, Silver Star, Bronze Star, KIA

John Freitag – Ashland, IL; US Army, WWII, ETO, POWhalfstaffflag

Victor Greenblatt – Brooklyn, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII & Korea, navigator

Christopher M. Harris – Jackson Springs, NC; US Army, Afghanistan, Spc, 2/504/1 BCT/82nd Airborne, KIA

Jonathan M. Hunter – Columbus, IN; US Army, Afghanistan, Sgt., 2/504/1 BCT/82nd Airborne, KIA

Dr. Janet Kemp – Carthage, NY; Civilian, VA’s National Mental Health Program Dir.; VA Crisis Hotline, Ret. 30 years, Service To America Medal

James Miles – Dallas, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII & Korea, Lt.Col. (Ret.)

Henry Soderholm – Malden, MA; US Air Force, Vietnam, MSgt. (Ret.)

Thomas Vogt – St. Louis, MO; US Army, WWII & Korea

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About GP

Everett Smith served with the Headquarters Company, 187th Regiment, 11th A/B Division during WWII. This site is in tribute to my father, "Smitty." GP is a member of the 11th Airborne Association. Member # 4511 and extremely proud of that fact!

Posted on August 16, 2017, in Current News and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 95 Comments.

  1. Anna Waldherr | August 20, 2017 at 3:31 PM

    This reminded me of the Ballad of the Green Beret, albeit another branch of the service. The Boy Scouts still sing it. The song starts off this way:

    “Fighting soldiers from the sky
    Fearless men who jump and die
    Men who mean just what they say
    The brave men of the Green Beret

    Silver wings upon their chest
    These are men, America’s best
    One hundred men will test today
    But only three win the Green Beret”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  2. Peter Klopp | August 18, 2017 at 8:11 PM

    A wonderful poem expressing hope for what lies ahead and faith in God in whose hands we all are whether we agree or not! Thank you, GP, for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. shoreacres | August 18, 2017 at 6:28 PM

    This is an interesting sidenote to the air war. I’ve been in Texas for decades and never heard of this — it’s quite a delightful story.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Jet Eliot | August 18, 2017 at 2:59 PM

    I, too, enjoyed the right-cross story, GP. Great post today, as always.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Klausbernd | August 18, 2017 at 11:04 AM

    Dear GP Cox
    always interesting infos on your blog and even poetry. My mother was in the resistance in Switzerland and Schweden during the war therefore I didn’t hear much about the fighting soldiers. My family was helping Jewish people out of Germany mostly from Sweden. None of my family has been in the army and at school we heard not much about the WW II. Therefore your blog is a great history lesson for me.
    Thank you so much and have a great weekend
    Klausbernd

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Klausbernd | August 18, 2017 at 11:07 AM

      P.S.
      I forgot tomention: I really like the graphics of your blog, the moving parachutist on the right. GREAT!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
    • GP Cox | August 18, 2017 at 2:08 PM

      I had no idea Klausbernd. You must be very proud of your mother and the rest of your family for the work they did. They took quite a chance in those endeavors!! I’m very happy to hear that you, such a well educated person can find something interesting on my site.
      Thank you.
      GP Cox

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • Klausbernd | August 19, 2017 at 12:36 PM

        Yes, my mother was very brave and this as a very young woman. She was born in a politically conscious family. Her parents did fight in the resistance as well and had a lot of contacts to Jewish people during the war whom they helped. They were aligned to Hjalmar Schacht, who was the director of the central bank in Germany (Reichsbank) and tried to fight Fascism with financial speculations. Hjalmar was murdered in a concentration camp. Parts of my family were sent to a concentration camp as well, but fortunately they could escape and survived.
        Well, that’s all German history but I am born just after the war when everybody was busy building up an anti-fascist, democratic Germany. Nobody wanted to speak of the war.
        Yes, I find your blog very educating.
        Thanks and warmest greetings from the breezy sea
        Klausbernd

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  7. gunnardeckare | August 18, 2017 at 6:57 AM

    I like that poem. Not everyday you read such poetry

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. Garrulous Gwendoline | August 18, 2017 at 4:43 AM

    Hi GP, I have stumbled across a letter written from Sacramento to Bradford UK. The writer had been listening to Radio Tokio on shortwave, and picked up that the relative of the woman in Bradford was alive in a POW camp. I took a photo of the letter. I think you will be interested. How do I send you a photo please?

    Like

    Reply
      • GP Cox | August 20, 2017 at 6:43 AM

        Thank you very much, Gwen – it worked perfectly!! I appreciate you going to such effort.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        • Garrulous Gwendoline | August 20, 2017 at 8:45 AM

          If I had more time I would try to research the people involved on both sides of the exchange. It looks fascinating. There was so much more on that microfilm reel too regarding POW camps, sketches and lists of British servicemen.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
          • GP Cox | August 20, 2017 at 2:31 PM

            I’m so glad you discovered it. Thank you once again!

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply
            • Garrulous Gwendoline | August 21, 2017 at 4:19 AM

              I couldn’t help myself. I see Mrs William L. McKie is mentioned in this newspaper, sending a similar message to Mr and Mrs Nils T Peterson of Montana
              http://big.stparchive.com/Archive/BIG/BIG08301945P04.php

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply
              • GP Cox | August 21, 2017 at 6:11 AM

                I’m thrilled you became so curious and this link is fantastic!! I’m saving all of it !!! Thank you for thinking of me as you located and researched this info. It is a sure window into the past!!

                Liked by 1 person

                Reply
            • Garrulous Gwendoline | August 21, 2017 at 4:24 AM

              And searching on “relaying messages from radio tokyo Mrs McKie” gives heaps more hits. Her first name was Cecilia. Lots of transcripts of her messages out there, and she is mentioned in at least one book. Wouldn’t it be curious if a descendant was one of your blog followers.

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply
              • GP Cox | August 21, 2017 at 6:13 AM

                I’d love that – it would be fantastic! Stranger things have happened. This might all work into a book for you, you think?

                Liked by 1 person

                Reply
                • Garrulous Gwendoline | August 22, 2017 at 12:59 AM

                  I hadn’t thought of that. Interesting idea. At the moment I have one percolating in the back of mind that has a sliding door theme. Same girl, two lives. In one life the girl goes to Yugoslavia as a carefree Aussie. Has a fling. Decides to leave when Tito dies. Returns home and has a happy life (insert husband and child, child grows up happy). In the other life the girl stays, marries the fling and has a child. Then the Yugoslav war breaks out. Her son’s childhood is lost by spending years hiding in cellars. Something tragic happens to him. Years later the girl returns as a tourist and the two lives collide. Not sure how / what. Hmmmm, might just save that somewhere. Do you think it has legs? Any and all plot suggestions gratefully accepted.

                  Liked by 1 person

                  Reply
                  • GP Cox | August 22, 2017 at 6:28 AM

                    I’ll have to think on that one and I’ll get back to you. In the meantime – have you ever read, “Boat of a Million Years” by Poul Anderson? I tried to write one similar, more up to date, going through the history and possible future, but I re-read what I did write and WOW, I am no professional fiction writer!!

                    Liked by 1 person

                    Reply
                    • Garrulous Gwendoline | August 23, 2017 at 6:08 AM

                      Gosh – no, I’ve never read it, but I just looked it up. I’ve added it to my ever increasing reading list. SciFi – ambitious project. I would never attempt it. How far did you get?

                      Like

                    • GP Cox | August 23, 2017 at 6:12 AM

                      I did about 65,000 words of pure dribbel.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • Garrulous Gwendoline | August 23, 2017 at 6:15 AM

                      Ouch. Perhaps you should look at it like a first draft. Just getting the ideas down on paper, ready to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses; and go on from there. I have twenty versions of my memoir on the laptop, and that is before the publisher had its two-bits. And for what its worth, I hear even the best authors doubt their quality at some point in the process.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • GP Cox | August 23, 2017 at 6:17 AM

                      Doubt isn’t the word. I waited a few months before re-reading it, to give my mind a clear look at it – you would think a 5-year old scribbled it out! haha

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • Garrulous Gwendoline | August 23, 2017 at 6:32 AM

                      Aha! So it is a current work in progress. Leaving a bit of contemplation time is good. Now it will start percolating again. I’m very glad my first two or three attempts didn’t see the light of day. It will improve for sure.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • GP Cox | August 23, 2017 at 6:41 AM

                      Actually I gave up on it before starting this blog, almost 5 years ago. I think you would do much better with something like that. I’m planning on staying with non-fiction.

                      Liked by 1 person

                  • GP Cox | August 22, 2017 at 3:18 PM

                    I’m not very imaginative, so after thinking on it, all I came up with was a version of Romeo and Juliet. She stays, marries the fling and has the child, but as war breaks out and their town is attacked, the boy runs away from her, afraid from the bombs and shooting. The husband takes off after the child and as he grabs him, he’s shot. The child goes lifeless after hitting is head and having his wounded, but only unconscious father fall on top of him. She tries to raise and wake the both of them but they appear dead – she runs and eventually gets to Australia. She never forgets them, never remarries, becomes a teacher and with each passing year, her students remind her of her son. In her sixties and now retired, she returns to the little town to see if she can locate their graves, only to discover the husband died only a year before. I can’t decide if she finds her son or not.

                    Liked by 1 person

                    Reply
  9. mainepaperpusher | August 18, 2017 at 1:38 AM

    How wonderful that your Dad was honored. He seems like a lovely man and I wish I had had the chance to meet him.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. EmilyAnn Frances | August 17, 2017 at 4:13 AM

    Beautiful poem. Our brave service men and women who give themselves to keep our country free. should never be forgotten. They have put themselves on the line to preserve the rights which we so often take for granted.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • GP Cox | August 17, 2017 at 5:58 AM

      So Agreed, Emily! I see far too much ingratitude and self-serving people every day. It’s sad that the human race is being reduced to that.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • EmilyAnn Frances | August 17, 2017 at 7:49 AM

        GP: I put the blame on the media. That kind of behavior is glorified and so the generation taking it in acts on it. The WWII generation had many shortcomings but they grew up valuing a civil society and a concern that was larger than me-mine-ours. I put the blame to all the dissension today as starting in the 1980s when “Greed is good!”, “Attitude is everything!” and such slogans were given a nod of approval. We should not only learn from the past but look at the positive moral values that contributed to what was good at that time and revive them today.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        • GP Cox | August 17, 2017 at 7:54 AM

          There are currently 57 armed conflicts registered by the United Nations in progress at this moment. Four conflicts have caused at least 10,000 deaths or more. These are: The War in Afghanistan – 2015-present (first started 1978); The Iraq War – 2014-present (first started 2003); The Mexican Drug War – 2006-present; The Syrian Civil War – 2011-present.
          How much of this does the public know about? Anything about the NATO exercises in Europe? US_Australian operations? Assad wants other nations to rebuild his country? Russian-Belarus operations? The media doesn’t talk about any of this!

          Liked by 3 people

          Reply
  12. Anne Clare | August 17, 2017 at 2:25 AM

    Lovely, especially the closing. And it’s always fun to see a new Bill Mauldin cartoon!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  14. John W. Howell | August 16, 2017 at 3:44 PM

    Nice. I liked the kid pilot joke.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  16. Nasuko | August 16, 2017 at 12:05 PM

    There are various anniversaries,Is it a holiday?
    Happy Airborne Day!! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  17. Lee Austin | August 16, 2017 at 11:39 AM

    Thanks for the referral. AIRBORNE!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  19. richreynolds74 | August 16, 2017 at 11:05 AM

    Beautiful poem. Currahee GP.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  20. shoreacres | August 16, 2017 at 9:11 AM

    You may have solved a mystery for me. The marinas where I work lie on the flight path between the air museum in Galveston and Ellington Field. There always are Coast Guard helos and F-16s and such flying around, but yesterday I heard the unmistakable hum of vintage aircraft. I’m not sure what they were, but four of them, including a couple of biplanes, were flying around.

    I couldn’t figure out what was up, since it’s too early for them to be out practicing for October’s air show. Maybe it was somehow connected with National Airborne Day!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  21. 56packardman | August 16, 2017 at 9:02 AM

    Calling our attention to this day is a natural for you given the major theme of your blog!
    🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  22. Dan Antion | August 16, 2017 at 8:08 AM

    As scary as the poem is, I think I’d prefer paratrooper to glider pilot/crew.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  23. distantshipsmoke | August 16, 2017 at 8:01 AM

    A great deserving tribute to very brave men.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  24. beetleypete | August 16, 2017 at 7:29 AM

    Great tribute, GP. My dad’s younger brother was a paratrooper, and so proud of his red beret.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  25. derrickjknight | August 16, 2017 at 6:59 AM

    Great Smitty tribute. Loved the right-cross story.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  26. GP Cox | August 19, 2017 at 2:23 PM

    Thank you very much.

    Like

    Reply
  27. GP Cox | August 20, 2017 at 6:44 AM

    Thank you for linking up, Andrew.

    Like

    Reply
  28. GP Cox | August 16, 2018 at 2:01 PM

    Thank you very much, Ian.

    Like

    Reply

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