Show Parachute Troopers J un Uncle e Sam Has Special p a Ba Battalion of f e By PAUL HARRISON FORT BENNING Ga If If old General Nathan Bedford Forrest Forrest Forrest For For- rest were alive to see parachute troopers and their lethal accessorIes accessories dropping In on some objective objective objective ob ob- ob- ob hed he'd probably swallow his famed remark about the way to win battles battles by by gettin with the men Therell There'll never be many parachute parachute parachute para para- chute soldiers And their mission is to chase enemies out of positions positions post post- already occupied But the figure to make up their disadvantages with something that General Forrest didn't know about the about the fire power They have smoke bombs to spread a concealing haze They've got grenades to toss and pistols to shoot down at defenders And once on the ground they've got machine guns and fiendish fast- fast firing little mortars Better Than Nazis Of course any such attack would be risky but not one of the 34 officers and men of the battalion here all volunteers volunteers volunteers volun volun- believes for an instant that it would amount to group suicide Every detail of their training from acrobatics to marksmanship is pointed to toward toward toward to- to ward greater security through stronger offense Wed expect pretty heavy casualties in action admitted an officer But for the risks we take were we're getting higher pay and plenty excitement and the satisfaction of doing a new kind of job The Germans used parachute parachute parachute para para- chute troops successfully and weve we've got good reason to believe that this outfit is a lot better than anything Hitler has Aside from the reports that many of the swastika were terrified infantrymen who were forced out of planes at point gun-point there are technical reasons for the claimed superiority superiority superior superior- ity of the parachute bat bat- Warrant Officer Harry Wilson Vilson parachute expert detached detached detached de de- de- de from the air corps at Wright field told some of them Have Better P Parachutes Fort Benning wear point four-point suspension harnesses By pulling down on t the e proper combinations of risers or sets of lines they can change the shape of their huge parasols and check dizzying oscillations In the same way they're learning to guide themselves with good accuracy to selected landing spots They've found how to turn themselves wind to for landings And at the last instant with a ahard ahard ahard hard pull oh on the risers they lift part of their weight and greatly lessen landing shocks But a German parachutist Mr Wilson said is suspended by harness harness har han ness swivel at the middle of his back He oscillates and gets sick d drifts helplessly lands hard tumbles over head and andis is as likely as not to break an ankle I No more broken ankles for Sams Sam's parachutists SpecIal equipment and training su Uch ti members of the parachute battalion at Fort lort Benning ii ar are re cehin above in take off and and ad landing anding have ha done the trick I The commanding officer here hoS Major William M M. Miley bro brol a shoulder bone in a trial ju 3 with 80 pounds of equipment nt some months ago And few of the men got broken broken broken-b sprained ankles in 10 ordinary land la ings until they were equipped d with specially designed Sh short t boots They also have special helmets and jumping suits lie latter pocketed to the knee hold grenades and smoke bo bom bombi So Hundreds of Applications Application J l There was one fatality fn p March 6 when a soldiers soldier's m mt miTt lt chute was not opened autom lr cally by the static line line to a hook at the door the plane And he didn't pull toe the ripcord on his pack chest-pack parachute para para chute in time J Once before a jumpers jumper's man chute failed but he mad perfect descent with his spare I understand that the fault r the two static-failures static is know known and has been corrected j II The adjutant told me he hera aj filed hundreds of a applications application rJ from men in other the army Those being sele selected d dare are between 21 and 32 unmarried ried ned with at least a year of s sice service ice and perfect records and physical qualification qualifications Of to whom I ta taIj each said that he joined fo for the extra money and the fu it They earn specialists' specialists r rings rings rat ings which approximately doable dos doa ble their pay |