12-19-2010, 19:22
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#1
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Eastern Panhandle, WV
Posts: 719
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22nd Anniversary of Panama Invasion
December 20th, 1989 at 0017 hours the war began for us with a fire fight. That was a day never to be forgotten. We had prepared as a unit for 18 months. We lost my team sergeant on a fast rope accident rehearsing for the attacks. He lived for 10 years but was paralyzed for the rest of his life. My senior engineer was on loan to another team and he was wounded. We had a VERY politically sensitive mission that was later obviated by events - it was better that way.
We hit national radio down town. Later, after a call from JCS, we loaded up and hit the AM side of it that was still operating. It looked like our commander was going to turn down the mission (he'd turned one down before daybreak) and I wasn't going to let that happen again. I told him that I'd been an engineer for 10 years and I could organize and prosecute the mission. We did it.
Things I remember: sitting on an island on New Year's Eve 1990. Some of the guys left $40 on the counter at a store and bought some bubbly. At midnight, we cracked it open to celebrate. The next day we road across the isthmus back to Ft Davis. The Panamanians cheered us the entire way across. We were greeted as heroes. Pretty headdy stuff.
After the shooting stopped, 7th Group ran the country. Period. It was the greatest thing I've ever seen. They ran cities and villiages, restarted electrical generation, ran courts and police departments, and in a couple of cases were judges. No one could have done it like the Devil's Brigade.
Way to go 7th SFGA. Congrats to all you Panama veterans. This is a forgotten war, but it was one of the most important battles of the Latin American Campaign.
__________________
"If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth."
RWR
"If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket, what difference does it make to me?"
TJ
Last edited by Green Light; 12-19-2010 at 19:25.
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Green Light is offline
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12-19-2010, 19:29
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#2
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Pineland, Northern Province
Posts: 600
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Light
Way to go 7th SFGA. Congrats to all you Panama veterans. This is a forgotten war, but it was one of the most important battles of the Latin American Campaign.
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Amen Brother!
I was in 5th GRP and on leave, and very envious. You guys did a great job....jd
__________________
Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.
Thomas Jefferson
"The scene changes but the aspirations of men of good will persist."
Vannevar Bush
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uplink5 is offline
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12-19-2010, 19:45
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#3
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Occupied Pineland
Posts: 4,701
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A/2-7. We got to the party late but still had fun. "Go forth and do great things." My Co CDR had a sense of humor/history. Besides, he didn't know enough about the situation to tell me anything more explicit - nobody did. So we sallied forth and improvised madly. Heady days indeed. Thank you Stan B. for handing us a workable situation and all the ammo you didn't want to turn in! We stayed for six months before being relieved and I wound up going back almost immediately after returning to Bragg, spending the rest of 1990 working various projects in the CZ.
__________________
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.
~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (42B.C)
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Peregrino is offline
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12-19-2010, 19:47
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#4
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RIP Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Ozarks
Posts: 10,072
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Some amusing anecdotes came out of that episode.
__________________
"There you go, again." Ronald Reagan
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Dusty is offline
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12-19-2010, 20:40
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#5
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Georgetown, SC
Posts: 4,204
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22 years! How time flies. I remember being glued to the TV watching. Seeing places I'd been and knew was cool. My main remdmbrance was of the 82nd troops being mired in the muck of the outgoing tide .
Congrats to those who really made it happen, from a member of the 'Bayonet Brigade' from years before this event.
__________________
"I took a different route from most and came into Special Forces..." - Col. Nick Rowe
Last edited by ZonieDiver; 12-19-2010 at 20:43.
Reason: Fix
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ZonieDiver is offline
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12-20-2010, 05:28
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#6
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Eastern Panhandle, WV
Posts: 719
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While getting older is the preferred alternative, it does have its drawbacks. It was 21 years - my math hasn't gotten better with age.
__________________
"If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth."
RWR
"If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket, what difference does it make to me?"
TJ
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Green Light is offline
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12-20-2010, 06:20
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#7
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: st louis mo.
Posts: 315
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Light
December 20th, 1989 at 0017 hours the war began for us with a fire fight. That was a day never to be forgotten. We had prepared as a unit for 18 months. We lost my team sergeant on a fast rope accident rehearsing for the attacks. He lived for 10 years but was paralyzed for the rest of his life. My senior engineer was on loan to another team and he was wounded. We had a VERY politically sensitive mission that was later obviated by events - it was better that way.
We hit national radio down town. Later, after a call from JCS, we loaded up and hit the AM side of it that was still operating. It looked like our commander was going to turn down the mission (he'd turned one down before daybreak) and I wasn't going to let that happen again. I told him that I'd been an engineer for 10 years and I could organize and prosecute the mission. We did it.
Things I remember: sitting on an island on New Year's Eve 1990. Some of the guys left $40 on the counter at a store and bought some bubbly. At midnight, we cracked it open to celebrate. The next day we road across the isthmus back to Ft Davis. The Panamanians cheered us the entire way across. We were greeted as heroes. Pretty headdy stuff.
After the shooting stopped, 7th Group ran the country. Period. It was the greatest thing I've ever seen. They ran cities and villiages, restarted electrical generation, ran courts and police departments, and in a couple of cases were judges. No one could have done it like the Devil's Brigade.
Way to go 7th SFGA. Congrats to all you Panama veterans. This is a forgotten war, but it was one of the most important battles of the Latin American Campaign.
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was this when the our guys came ashore at night only to be greeted by TV cameras and lights? I'll never forget the look on their faces.
__________________
Isaiah 2:17
The arrogance of man will be brought low
and the pride of men humbled;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
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dadof18x'er is offline
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12-20-2010, 07:38
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#8
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Occupied Pineland
Posts: 4,701
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dadof18x'er
was this when the our guys came ashore at night only to be greeted by TV cameras and lights? I'll never forget the look on their faces.
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That was Marines in Somalia.
__________________
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.
~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (42B.C)
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Peregrino is offline
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12-20-2010, 08:26
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#9
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Guerrilla
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Jersey Shore.
Posts: 133
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I found a box of embossed invitations in Manny's office in the Commandancia (I may have misspelled that) took one and wrote, " Dear Gen Noreiga, We, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces would like to thank you for having us in your country over the Christmas holidays. We hope you enjoy the United States as much as we have enjoyed Panama! Airborne!" Addressed it: General Manuel A. Noreiga (Ret) c/o Dade County Detention Center, Miami, Fla. Put his official stamp on the back and mailed it to him. Never heard if he received it or not, would like to think he did!
Can't believe it's been 21 years......Best live fire exercise I ever went on!
__________________
Mac
"What they think we aren't.....we are!"
Confederate Bushwhacker 1863
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mac117 is offline
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12-20-2010, 08:35
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#10
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 200
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<3
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18DWife is offline
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12-20-2010, 08:37
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#11
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 117
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21 years!! I feel old now.............damn
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Free Pineland
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Santo Tomas is offline
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12-20-2010, 09:25
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#12
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Ft. Bragg
Posts: 2,927
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Just Cause...or as I, a proud member of 1st Bn remember it, Just Them.
__________________
"Somebody should put that quote on a T-shirt:
Muslim phrase: "Aloha Snackbar!"
English translation: "Draw, Mother-F*cker!""
-TOMAHAWK9521
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1stindoor is offline
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12-23-2010, 20:40
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#13
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Kenansville, NC
Posts: 260
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Just Cause
Our unit was attached to 3/7 at the time. We had teams all over the place, Most were at PDF garrisons from David down across to Las Tablas, in those areas.. We had 1 team based out of Rio Hato and later 2/7 came in an relieved our teams and we retured back to Bragg. Those guys came to stay for a 6 month tour, most relieved each team at the garrison sites.
Whew....I retired in Feb 92 so that definately makes me feel old..
Habu
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I've already "Paid it Forward", Keep the Change.
Last edited by Habu-MFFI 175; 12-23-2010 at 20:43.
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Habu-MFFI 175 is offline
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12-23-2010, 22:53
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#14
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: East Coast
Posts: 116
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Thanks
For all of you that participated in Just Cause I want to say Thank you. I was there (83-86) my wife and I were threatened and held at gunpoint twice by PDF thugs. Once at Howard stables early one Sunday morning when one of their plainclothes (I cant remember the name of the not very secret police) was drunk coming from Vera Cruz driving way too fast, and I slowed him down (my wife was not in my car, she was waiting at the stables for me). Once past the housing area, I got out of his way, and and waited until he was well out of sight, and I thought out the gate. About ten minutes later he turned around and came back, I had a unique, VW convertible that he must of saw parked at the stables. I was mucking out a stable, when I was looking at the business end of a Browning Hi Power. All I had was a pitchfork in my hands. He just wasn't close enough for me to get to him. The second time the DENI Traffic cops stopped us just before I could get in the front gate at Howard. That _ _ _ _ was pointing what looked to be an 8" Smith my wife was pregnant (with our son, whose is now an Infantryman in the 82nd with one tour in Iraq) A few locals waiting for a Chiva Chiva bus helped us a bit because my wife was very pregnant, and the Howard AP's got there as well. We had the Grace of God with us both times.
Otherwise, I'm pretty sure he would have shot me. We knew how they abused the Panamanians I wanted my own payback but, you Gentlemen did a marvelous job and introduced those bastards to some long overdue justice.
Many Thanks!
Best Regards
Noslack
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Noslack71 is offline
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12-24-2010, 09:31
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#15
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Castle Rock, CO
Posts: 2,531
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Light
While getting older is the preferred alternative, it does have its drawbacks. It was 21 years - my math hasn't gotten better with age.
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And you were an engineer? LOL...that extra year is just the "P" for plenty...
"Hey Sir, watch this..."
__________________
""A man must know his destiny. if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder. if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it.""- GEN George S. Patton
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