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XVIII Airborne Corps

@18airbornecorps

5 Dec

Easy Company formed in Georgia in 1942 with 140 volunteers as part of an experimental offensive formation: infantrymen who would fall from the sky behind enemy lines, striking through combat's third dimension to provide a heavy ground force with a position of advantage.

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In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the men of Easy Company filled sticks 66 through 73 into Normandy.

Once inserted, they captured Carentan and held it against withering German counterattacks.

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Three months later, Easy Company jumped into the Netherlands and marched into Eindhoven. For one month, they saw some of the ETO's heaviest fighting, often vs German tank units. In a daring rescue operation, they evacuated 138 British paratroopers trapped outside Arnhem

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XVIII Airborne Corps

@18airbornecorps

20 Nov

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Friends - let's head into the weekend on a positive note, with a cool story of a badass Sky Dragon Soldier.

We're talking about NFL tight end (Detroit Lions), war hero, Medal of Honor recipient, Arkansas Lt Governor, and successful businessman Maurice Britt.

@3rd_Infantry

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Yesterday, as part of Marne Week, our @3rd_Infantry renamed a Fort Stewart Gate after Maurice. So, let's tell his story here.

Born in a small Arkansas town in 1919, Maurice quickly grew to be a remarkable athlete, excelling in baseball and football.

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After high school, Maurice played football at the University of Arkansas. He was undersized but scrappy and smart. After graduation, he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1941.

While Maurice had a promising NFL career, the storm clouds of war were gathering in Europe

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XVIII Airborne Corps

@18airbornecorps

15 Nov

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Happy 115th Birthday to Curtis "Bombs Away" LeMay. Curtis, who died in 1990, grew from a small Ohio town to become one of the most polarizing figures of the early Cold War.

The aggressive Air Force general had unyielding faith in the strategic value of aerial bombing.

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One of the principle architects of the policy that came to be known with derision as "Mutually Assured Destruction," Curtis was the inspiration for General Jack D. Ripper in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

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In real life, Curtis chewed a cigar stub to disguise the Bell’s palsy partial facial paralysis that made one side of his lower lip droop. [He was struck with Bell's palsy while flying in the cold]

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XVIII Airborne Corps

@18airbornecorps

3 Nov

https://twitter.com/18airbornecorps/status/1455867366106095621

This morning's #TDIDCH referenced a news story in a Lebanese magazine released #OTD in 1986 reporting the US illegally sold missiles to Iran [an enemy state under an arms embargo].

Here's a screenshot from that explosive story, which was initially denied by Washington

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https://twitter.com/18airbornecorps/status/1455867366106095621

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The administration hoped that in exchange for the arms, Iran would get Hezbollah [a group with Iranian ties] to free 7 American hostages [including this man, CIA Station Chief for Lebanon William Buckley] being held in Lebanon by Hezbollah.

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It later emerged that the Reagan White House funneled profits from the sale to the Contras, anti-communist guerrillas in Nicaragua, an act forbidden by Congress [the Contras committed atrocities against citizens].

The stories turned into a scandal, dubbed "Iran-Contra.

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XVIII Airborne Corps

@18airbornecorps

25 Oct

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38 years ago today, the US invaded a tiny Caribbean island, rescued a bunch of medical students, and rounded-up a group of gang members, along with their Cuban communist backers.

Don't remember this Cold War endeavor? Don't what we're talking about?

Read on.

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Operation Urgent Fury, the American invasion of Grenada, began on the morning of October 25th, 1983 with assaults on airstrips at Point Salines and Pearls.

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Over the next four days, US troops:
👉rescued US citizens
👉restored a popular native government
👉eliminated a threat to the stability of the Caribbean
👉eliminated US strategic interests in the region

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XVIII Airborne Corps

@18airbornecorps

24 Oct

@18CorpsPAO

Dragon Jobs is our most successful📺show. This episode, Episode 11, is our favorite so far.

With @18CorpsPAO galavanting about elsewhere, Jeremiah "Mr. Personality" Meaney hosts this episode....from BEAUTIFUL Juneau, Alaska.

Jeremiah meets our Army Dive Detachment!🤿

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@USArmy

Part 2⃣of 4⃣of Dragon Jobs, Episode 1⃣1⃣❗️

Here our Army Divers (MOS 12D) dive from a pier as they prepare for a ship repair mission in Alaska.

Wanna be a @USArmy Diver? Go here for more:
👉bit.ly/3vCYI2m

Our divers specialize in scuba🤿 ➕deep-sea🌊.

Keep Watching!

Part 3⃣of4⃣of Dragon Jobs, Episode 11, is WILD!

Our guest host, Jeremiah "Bonecrusher" Meaney, enters a compression chamber to certify to dive in Alaska...then the dive team tosses him underwater!