82nd Airborne July 4th, 2008 Fireworks
10,000 miles from home, the 4th of July is celebrated as enthusiastically as ever
Submitted by Jeff Emanuel
The paratroopers of C Co 2-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (82nd Airborne) celebrate the 4th of July at Patrol Base Olson in Samarra, Iraq — halfway around the world from their home country.
This video was taken by a regular digital still camera, so the sound of the guitar bleeds in and out as the “fireworks” go off. Specialist Alexi Scalco, radio operator for Charlie Company commanding officer CPT Buddy Ferris, is playing the guitar (which is plugged in to a radio amplifier and the Patrol Base loudspeaker system), and his fellow paratroopers are providing the sound and light show with a little help from a Special Forces team in the area.
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Best holiday celebration I ever had in the field was one Christmas when I was an FDC Chief and managed to spell Merry XMAS with iluume rounds from an 81mm platoon. And that was without a ballistic computer boyz and girls. Just had my trusty firing tables, a calculator and an M-16 plotting board. It’s all about wind speed and wind direction.
Nice vid. BTW I learned that trick from an 82nd dude. Just kind of ties in…to this story.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:52 amYo Dan, I was chief of section,FDC, Field Artillery, 8 inch, etc. We never saw the round come down except in direct fire, suppressing snipers. They always became as quiet as mice.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:08 pm