What was your worst Jump?

So no shit there I was- Sicily DZ, FBNC. I am a jump chaser so when I went to strap hang on this jump, they naturally put me on the last freaking lift. (I had jumped 2 weeks before and there was a whole company of people coming back from deployments taking care of jump rules 3 or 4.) The whole time I watched the jumpmasters get mad at the jumpers as they exited and didn't turn toward the wind. We use MC-6 parachutes so we can steer them; you are supposed to face into the wind. The problem with no facing the wind is it makes you accelerate, kind of like pulling the wrong slip on the T-11s. The jumpers would go against what seemed like the wind's current direction and dart down super fast on to the DZ, desperately trying to turn into the wind before landing. I thought this was in an attempt to get down faster and go home. I made a promise that I would just take it easy on my jump and try not to rush the landing. When I finally got rigged up and jumped, the wind at 1200 ft was blowing a completely different way than the ground wind. In fact, as a I looked around to see my fellow jumpers to compare my rate of descent, everyone was facing every way imaginable. I floated for a few seconds as I was facing the wind, but then a gush of hot air hit and I started oscillating. I burned in on the hardest landing to date right in the middle of a thorny patch of bushes. Getting my parachute out of the thorns was an adventure by itself. By the end of it, I was not even mad; just happy to have not broken something or have gotten stuck in a tree like another person on my lift. So every time I go up in the aircraft, I think to myself "Why in the hell did I volunteer for this?" Then on the walk off the DZ, I think to myself "That feeling cannot be replicated anywhere else. This is why I am airborne. That and to be surrounded by people that are just as crazy as I am." I hope I can stay on jump status for as long as I am in the Army with the exception of a couple tours to South Korea. My dream once I make SGT is to become a jumpmaster and be that guy yelling at people for facing the wrong way. haha

In Ranger School, we were jumping out of a Huey up in the mountains. I was in the middle position in the door and as we scooted forward to jump, I scooted a little too far. I realized that I was good as long as the two Rangers on each side were. When the one to my left jumped, I immediately fell out after him. All of a sudden, I found myself with another chute in my face. I did the spread eagle and bounced off. I quickly slipped away and once I got on the ground, I quickly grabbed my chute as I heard RIs calling for whomever that was. I joined my squad and continued on while never admitting I was that Ranger.

I landed on a patch of prickly pears on a night equipment jump and had to be carted to the medics for a shot of cortisone! Right on my 4th point of contact. Yep. 1Lt got SHAMED!

When I jumped into an open bunker during a recoilless rifle attacked in Vietnam and became fast buddies with a cobra! I was faster than he, in and out in a flash!

My fourth jump in jump school was a mass tac jump. I was floating along looking at the Alabama scenery when two jumpers below me suddenly slipped underneath me stealing the air from my old T-10. Suddenly my chute collapsed about 30 feet above the ground and I crashed and burned. There was no PLF, there were no feet and knees together - just a lot of pain. After hitting (and bouncing I think) I got up and stuffed my chute in my P-Bag and headed for the chute collection point. On the way I realized that my right foot was in a lot of pain but I remember the Black Hats saying they were watching for limping so I worked hard not to. On the bus back to Benning I asked the medic in my class to look at it. When he took the boot off the entire top of the foot was black and blue with a tinge of green. In my best John Wayne I told the Doc to lace the boot up tight so I could get my last jump in that day and graduate. As it turns out the foot, other than the ugly bruising, wasn't hurt at all but my coccyx was in fragments and still is almost 34 years later.

Full equipment, double door mass jump. I was a young 18 year old , skinny, scrawny kid and weighed 20-30 pounds less than the older guys on course. Good exit from plane, CT-10 deployed fine, but a bigger heavier jumper managed to crash into me and tangle up his lines with mine. His chute would then take air out of mine and then mine would re-inflate and take air out of his. We pepper podded all the way down slamming into the ground. No injuries but I did need underwear change afterwards!

Division CSM was retiring and we were doing a mass tac jump on Sicily. We were told that there would be no racetracks. It was a go no matter what.

Luzon DZ. Winds steady, 11kts from the west. Smashed into the FLS. Woke up a few min later to the DZ medic shaking me. Man that hurt.

Ranger School, jumping into Florida (my second time)- I was a 240 gunner, in a short weapons squad so I had the tripod and spare barrel and 500 rounds. Twisted all the way to skirt of canopy. Bicycled forever. Last twist came out and smashed into the ground. Never got to lower my equipment. Man that hurt.

The first one?

The puke jump.
C141. In-flight rig back to Bragg. Nap of the earth for almost last hour of four hour flight.
Doors open...winds too high. Racetrack.
Guy pukes. Couldn't puke in puke bag...he was already hooked up. That's it...like dominoes, a bunch of other guys start puking.
Second pass...winds too high, racetrack.
More puke. By now, puke is moving...running on floor. Guys are slipping on it, trying to stay on their feet while hooked up (jumping full gear returning from 4 week off post training).
Third pass. No-go. They decide to land us.
Jumpmaster tells us to unhook and put seats back down.
We unhook but couldn't get seats back down. Too slippery. Guys slipping and falling all over.
We ended up just sitting on the floor, most of the guys sitting in puke.
It's the only time I didn't care about wind speed...we just wanted to exit!
So...worst jump I had was the one we couldn't make.