What do you think when you see a Soldier with Airborne wings?

Well said, Gunny. This is a positive aspect of Marine Corps culture: that all contribute, and our pride should be primarily in the unity of the entire team. Everyone has a role, and all roles are important. The infantryman needs the support of the folks in aviation, logistics, armor, artillery, and all other combat and non-combat specialties. This is even more important when we are in a multi-service or joint environment, which is nearly always the case these days.

Earning dolphins is a true accomplishment. Taking pride and exhibiting dedication to any job in the Armed Forces is something to truly be proud of. We all helped our country; thank you.

I think that having a bunch of young studs thinking they are the baddest dudes in town is not a bad thing . Remember you are going to fight a enemy that thinks the same way .

We all take pride in our wings, I have mine tattooed over my heart. Naval Air-crewman training was the hardest thing I've ever done. I joined the Navy with a life long fear of water. our motto" we're crude, rude and socially unacceptable", worked hard and partied hard. I've seen more than one man lose it on the approach to landing on a carrier. We all have our challenges, but we are different because we tried and we succeeded. Those who never tried will never know the pride we earned.

SPC Wayne Brown - I'd like to add that I still have my blood wings. I was number 39 in jump school and I came to believe that Fort Benning in August 1963 with the temperature and humidity, was hell on earth. I know that things have really changed since those days and I'd like to hear some stories about that. We wore the Fidel Castro style stiff fatigue hats while the instructors wore Blue baseball caps. They could and did, hit us and cuss us. The saw dust pits for PT were killer. Viet Nam was just beginning to heat up and as there were few casualties at that time, there was not a huge demand for airborne troops. I think that after I went through things got a whole lot easier because of the demand for bodies. There were 12 Marine Recon students mixed into my Army

class and only one made it through.

The 82d and the 173d were not the only paratroopers out there. I was airborne in the 36th Airborne Bde, in 2-143 Inf. A sister battalion from the 36th Abn Bde (1-143 Inf) now serves with the 173d.

Strike Hold! AATW!

SGT Dan Gray - The 82nd Div was Around long b4 the 101. They also were fought in North Africa and performed Airborne Combat Ops in Sicily and Italy. The 101st airborne’s first combat was Normandy. In no way am I trying to diminish their accomplishments. They were the heroes at Bastogne.