Dan's Airborne Ranger Photos

Page #5: Photos Contributed By Other Rangers

 

This site is dedicated to all Airborne Rangers who have served in any of the U.S. Army Ranger units. But especially to those who have given that final full measure of devotion.

The Ranger Creed

Roger's Standing Orders

Brothers with a bond the average person can never understand.

(Page last Updated: Jan 1, 1998
More of the photos I took while I was with B-2/75 Ranger (Weapons platoon) Apr'77 - Apr'79

I have tried to balance the resolution of the pics vs download speed so that your screen refresh is as fast as possible.

If there are any images that you would like to see in high res., Email me a note and I will either post it here, or email a copy of it back to you.

3rd Jump   3rd Jump

Ingve (Ing’ va) Stjerna sent us this picture he took. If you like it, please let him know at <istjerna@aixterm1.urz.uni-heidelberg.de>. The photo was taken in February of 1995 near Munich at the German "paratrooper school".

According to Ingve, in the German army you have to participate in a ground training for 11 days before you are allowed to jump (the training is divided into 11 days of ground training and 5 days of jumping, you have to do 5 jumps to pass the training of instruction and get the paratrooper insignia in bronze). He made the photo on the first day of jumping (officially, photographing is strictly forbidden but he had succeeded in smuggling his camera into the machine).

Sounds very similar to the way we do it.

Ingve recently sent us some more of his photos to enjoy!
   

A jump over germany 91 - SSG Mercadante 1/75

Hollywood jump over Hunter Army Airfield Bco 1/75, June 93. Photo taken by SPC Seips. Seips ETS'ed from HHC 1/501 Scouts in Alaska 9/96 and is now in Montana going to school. PHOTO: Courtesy SSG Mercadante

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Island of TINIAN, off the coast of Sipan, In the South Pacific. Nov. 1994 sitting on the historic North Airfield, Durring WWII the Enola Gay began it's journey from this location to bomb Japan. Left: SGT Gibbons, Right: SSG Mercadante.

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February 1995 Overlooking Mt. Susitna, Alaska Chill'n out at only -25. SSG Mercadante 6th M.I. co L.R.S.D.

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This image is from Dave Turner A/1/75 90-93.  Taken in Scotland in Sept '92 he believes.  Showing HQ plt A/1/75 walking the hills.


Dave Lukoskie all cammied up - DEC 75 
  Dave and his .45 - DEC 75 
Dave and PFC (now CSM) Jon George in their room at Ft. Lewis - OCT 75 
PT in Vancouver - JUL 75 
Lt. Thurman (Fast Eddy) and Cpt Malvesti (now dead after a parachute accident at Ft Bragg) running w/ rucks in Vancouver - JUL 75 
Lt Leszczynski at Ft. Lewis - JUL 75.  The Lt. went on to become the past Regimental Commander, and is now a BG serving in southern Italy (my apologies to Dave, but this is the best I could do on this one) 
Scott Lanam Co C Wpns Plt.in Alaska - MAR 76 "Our Wall Of Schlitz" 
Steve Cornelius half asleep in Montana - AUG 75 
Wpns Plt at Ft. Lewis, Washington - JUN 75 
"Mr. Clean" Dave's 2nd night at Ft. Benning with his Airborne haircut - 16 MAR 75 
Airborne! Ft. Lewis Wash. - Spring of '75 
John Wayne, Ranier Training Area, Ft. Lewis Wash - AUG 75 
Taken from the air during a Chinook jump - MAY 76 
The next set are courtesy of Tim Davis (3 Plt B 2/75 OCT 76 OCT 78)

Some Pictures of the USS Missouri, aboard which the Japanese instrument of surrender was signed.  The photos were taken in 1978 while the Missouri was in dry dock at Bremerton.
   

  The plaque on the spot over which the instrument of surrender was signed.

The next couple were taken in the fall of '78 during Ranger Davis's going away party.
Steve Kollar (who when last heard from was a fireman somewhere in WA), Tim Davis (in the tan shirt - currently a Gateway 2000 consultant), Gene Twining (rumered to be a martial arts instructor in CT), The back of Randy Shghart's left shoulder can be seen at the right edge of the photo if you squint hard enough. Ranger Shughart was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the battle of Mog-Town, Somalia.

  Kollar, Davis, Twining and Randy Shughart.

Pictures of Tim Davis enlisting on a Huey prior to a jump.  The Pacific ocean is in the background and only Rangers and Ranger Officers are on board. Note the small flag present in the last photo.
   

  The Ranger has just jumped from the Chinook (large helicopter with door in rear). In the lower right hand corner you can see the edge of the ramp. The jumpers' chute has not yet been pulled from its' pack. The static line can stil be seen on the pack. In the distance, previous jumpers are floating safetly to the ground.
Tim adds: "Photo by Mark Lisi. Lisi was the onboard photographer and I made the jump & he says this is me, but I have my doubts! Hell, we all look the same anyway, except that I know I was wearing cammies that morning. It's a good photo though (I think sometime in '77)." Mark Lisi adds "The photo of the hook jump is over Camino Island, after the 3 pltoon mission we ran up there in 77.

   Nicaragua, July 1979 USS Saipan LHS-2
Left to right: SSG Henderson, SSG Clark, SGT Rivera, SGT Kelsy, SP4 Owens, PFC Debray, SP4 Thomas, PFC Puckett, PFC Villalobos, SP4 Felix, SP4 West, SP4 Doer, SP4 Roybal, SGT Davis, PFC Blizzard, 2LT Whittington, CPL Carr, SP4 Nichols, Maj Shannon. Others not present: SP4 Gross, SP4 Bennet, SGT Keyser, MAJ Utter, SSG Powell. All members of Co. A (Abn) 3d Bn 5th Inf or HQ, Ft Kobbe, Panama.
Tim Adds: "Rescue mission to Nicaragua, July '79. This is not the original team. This was taken in the Atlantic after it was completed. For example, the LT to my right was brought in afterwards. (counting R to L, I am 6th (by the nose of the Sea Stallion, squinting). Original team had one officer (Maj Shannon, Ranger, former enlisted, hands on hips). I had never worked with these guys prior to this. I was called out of the field to move out with them"

  The USS Saipan the day we landed the chopper, Atlantic Ocean.
Tim adds: "Mission to Nic., I was on 3rd Huey, Command Huey; Damn near crash landed right on the deck.

The following were contributed by Will Elias (AKA Sgt Eli).

Mark Bucksath (on the left with glasses) and "Eli" on the right.

Crow (his hands anyway) and Sgt Eli (might've been a CPL there, not sure) running through a snap-shooting dry fire excercise with magazine exchange.

"Eli" at Huck Creek (a PFC then).

  1SG Mattoon and our HALO team.

Back Row: SGT Eli, SSG Ginniff, SFC Mattoon, SSG Franz (the Sontay Raider Wannabe)
Front Row: SGT Lassiter (HALO School and skydiving buddy), SGT Pulizzi, SGT Wheeler, SFC Palacios (reclined), SGT Gutting

Where Are They Now?

I thought I should start this section off with a picture of me, but as stated elsewhere, pictures of me are kind hard to come by as I am usually behind the camera and my wife tends to take pictures of the kids rather than me. So, I dug through a couple of drawers of snapshots and came up with a few of me.

  May '96: Hmmm...lemme see now..."insert tab A into slot B"....I think I may be in trouble here. You may not believe it, but this pile of rubble eventually turned into a beautiful small redwood porch as you exit our back door into the yard.

Here's one of me at my desk, working on an electronics project.

 My kids and I about half way up the Yosemite Falls trail in Yosemitee National Park (Half-Dome is in the background). Yosemite is one of God's gifts to mankind.

    Here's a couple of more recent photos of Sgt Eli.

Anthony (Tony) Guerrero   - B Co 2/75th, Nov 76-Sep78