...reply...
 

I have pictures of that commissary. The bombers also missed the motor pool across the street and obliterated an arcade. Just before 7th SFG left in Feb '90, after a few run ins with some bushmasters and other nasties, that gulch next to the SF compound was filled in and most of those buildings were leveled... with C4 of course.

Of course I was a PFC then in Signal Company. I need to get those pics digitized some day and post them to a site that hasn't forgotten about Just Cause.

Photo copy request
 

Electron,

I'd love to get a copy of your pics. either hard copy or digital. Of all the fun I've had over the years, i don't have any pics from Just Cause. send me a pm and we can work out the details.

Oh yeah.... lots of fun for a 19yr kid, who celebrated a year in the army in panama...... Fucking scared shitless.

As my squad entered the fence around the barracks, I moved up to a large dark mound for cover. I noticed the smell at about the same time it fucking moved.. Note to self: when seeking cover in a large gunfight, the ant eater's cousin is not a good place to hide.

Meanwhile in another squad, the SAW gunner is shooting at the next barracks, but his rounds are all impacting to the left of where he's aiming at. WTF you ask... It was even weirder at the time with all the guys telling him to knock off the KY windage and hose the door. After the sun came up we realized what had happened. Upon conducting his PLF on the DZ, he had bent his SAW like a banana with his body. You could definitely tell in the daylight that the gun was fucked up. Now, realize that he had shot about a thousand rounds since he landed as we assaulted the compound until it was clear. He grabbed an RPD and used it for the rest of the mission. The Unit Armorer did the gauge testing on the gun and it was "out of tolerance pretty bad..." It was a wonder that there was no Major Malfunction with serious injury.

My buddy Brant got to spend time with his dad who was there with the varsity team doing great things. Years later his dad when he was the COMSOCEUR in 1999 told my company commander that "he didn't have a job for us, but to go into Kosovo and find one". The company commander's response "Roger that, Sir!" Hell of a mission statement and brief (less than 10 min in duration). But that is another story.

NDD:

Somehow I missed this thread.

It's a great read, guys!

Well done NDD. I was chucklin' throughout the read. I needed that, thanks.

NDD - I too somehow missed this thread. Good story telling of potentially ugly problems. The thing I never got was that the Rangers came in and secured Rio Hato with minimal damage for our teams to come in and use the supplies on site. Somehow, 7th ID was able to come in and throw grenades in the washing machines and machine gun the four wheel drive and ATVs we were to use gong into the mountains. Never did figure that one out.

After "my training" you were able to hit that bird in the head at 305 meters!! :munchin

"Thanks for the memories", as Bob Hope would have said. :)

You're forgetting that the 7th ID got into firefights with the 82nd, 2/75, 5th ID and possibly shot down one of the little birds.......:eek: at least you could say that they were equal oppurtunity boneheads, though they were never engaged by the enemy....:munchin

I don't remember any "grenading" of washing machines, though we did shoot up a fair amount of vehicles in and around the airfield/barracks areas trying to take those Rhino type vehicles out before they could get loose with their .50 cals on us. All the major shooting was done the first day when we seized the airfield, then it was just sporadic instances during the next couple of nights out in the boonies around the airfield.

I still to this day cannot find anyone from the 7th ID who will admit to being at Rio Hato. It's like they all vanished from the face of the earth. All I want to do is punch them in the head for shooting at me....

Stras - You guys didn't grenade the washing machines the 7th ID did that after they relieved you guys and took over "security" of the area. I moved out smartly with my team in tow and went to Agua Dulce as soon as I could to get out of the line of fire. :D

Those clowns just boggle my mind when I hear of the shit they did.

I think that it was a good demonstration that the COHORT concept has some serious flaws in it.

I'm pretty sure that attacking helpless washing machines with grenades is in violation of the Geneva Convention. I'll get my lawyer at work on this.. he'll be laughing for days....:lifter

One of our Rangers was from Guam, and kin to our incoming 1SG and the former 2/75 CSM (LG). Day 2 or 3 of the holding of the airfield, we're running out of chow (you'll only be there 24hrs and then relieved). This kid drops his boots, and the next thing I know he's 20ft up a coconut tree just hacking away. Nothing like fresh coconut to soothe a hungry stomach. It went real well with the "glass" bread we found in the comissary. You had to eat it very carefully after you picked out all the glass shards.

Another Bonehead example:

In my 2 man security position on the far side of the airfield, we had a shallow hole dug, claymore out (which one of us checked every morning), and in elephant grass about 10-15 ft high. Our positions are approx 50ft apart around the airfield. We are replaced by a single PFC from the 7th at about 0800 on Day 4. "you guys see any action?" came out of his mouth at about the same time he saw the pile of pull rings and empty casings (can you say eyes the size of dinner plates?). "No, they were a little quiet last night, though you need to check your claymore this morning". I had just checked it at about 0700 when the sun came up.

OK, I gotta ask, what about the term "mushroomhead". I googled 7th ID and understand the crushed beercan remark, and even PM'd a guy from the 7th ID on another board. Nothing. SO, what's up with that?:confused:

NDD, the floor is yours......

:munchin

See, I always thought of them as Rasta heads, Dred heads, or Rag heads.:D

TR

Photos
 

I brought in some of my photos. The photos were taken in DEC89/JAN90 by photographer SGT Jon Long of HSC 2nd Bn, 7th SFG (A). I will bring them by my unit's photo section to see if they can digitize them. I have a few good shots of the shot-up PDF HQ, the canal, the Bridge of the Americas, some bullet-riddled vehicles, a jackass digging up a cache, some blown-up buildings and Noriega's beach house at Rio Hato. I still have to dig out my old photo album with my personal pics. It's been a while since I've seen it... One thing I will never forget... Nobody is more cocky and has more of an ego than a young Ranger private with a CIB and a mustard stain on his wings.

You forgot the "less than a year in the Army at the time"..........:D

19 Jan was my one year anniversary.

That was my last seven months in the Army after more than 23 years. :lifter :D

Had a little time to dig, so here you go.
v/r
JAGO