Blood Wings

I do tell stories on this site that I am not proud of but I think the public would find either crazy or fascinating. Blood Wings is one of those military stories that makes some grimace and others actually think it is a great camaraderie builder.

In 2nd Anglico an airborne unit in the Marine Corps we had several obstacles to cross. By the time I got to Anglico I had just over 10 total jumps. The Army gives you lead wings when you graduate Army Airborne School after 5 jumps. Some of the soldiers give each other blood wings after they earn their wings. In the Marine Corps just having lead wings is a disgrace and the term "Leg" was created for such an individual. Lead wings are nothing more than the first step to getting your Gold wings the coveted prize for a combat warrior who is crazy enough to jump out of an airplane at 800 feet above the ground at night into a combat situation. Only combat Marines can earn a set of Gold Wings at least that is how it use to be.

Gold wings are earned after a marine makes 10 combat jumps in different scenarios. One scenario is a night jump another is a water jump. A night jump is quite invigorating as you simply leave an aircraft with a dim red light at the door and escape into the deep black night and silence as the plane flies away. At 800 feet your parachute barely opens and you hit the ground. The jump is meant to get as many Marines on the ground as quickly as possible so they are not vulnerable to the enemy fire. The water jump is a jump into the ocean where you have to actually separate from your parachute before going into the water. A Marine does this to keep from drowning under his parachute.

When the needed jumps are made the Gold Wings still need to be earned. There is a Gold Wing ceremony that takes place. My Gold Wing ceremony took place in Canada after jumping from a helicopter in the chilling cold. I also earned my Canadian Jump Wings in the same trip. The ground was so hard, after flying from Camp Lejeune to Ottawa Canada and jumping in, I really had to feel my feet and legs to make sure they were still attached.

I remember when we jumped the Canadian chutes one of my buddies drew a random parachute out of a stack that was numbered 666. We all made fun of him and told him we would not jump Satan's chute. We then drew our reserve chutes and believe it or not he drew number 666 again. His new call sign was Satan from that point forward. He did survive the jump.

During a Gold Wing ceremony several things can happen. Sometimes the ceremony is on the ground just after the jump and sometimes it is much larger and with an entire company present. In my case the entire company was present. The SGT Major started the ceremony by taking the backings off of the Gold Wings leaving two 1/4 inch long sharp pins extending from the back of the wings. These sharp points are used to push the wings through a heavy camouflage uniform and web belt backing. This time however the SGT Major pushed them deep into my left breast penetrating my skin. I took a deep breath as I felt the pins go in and I thought the worst was over. I had 20 plus Marines that were waiting their turn. The second person stood in front of me and said "Oh no, your wings are crooked, we have to fix that" he pulled the wings out of my chest and planted them again. One of the Marines rolled my skin over the top and bottom of the wings and bit hard over the wings leaving teeth marks on my skin. The ceremony is a barbaric act of camaraderie. Once you have finished the ceremony you feel more like the brothers who earned their wings in the same way. They simply want to make it a special time for you. It is a day I will never forget and I can honestly say I would die for any of the individuals I trained with in that unit. We use to say the more you sweat in training the less you bleed in war.

I know most people won't see this ceremony in the same way the Marines do but you have to remember they are a branch of fighting warriors that put their lives on the line when others won't. They have to push the limits within bounds in order to be able to push themselves into heavy gunfire when the time is needed. They constantly test the boundaries of their physical and psychological bounds. Imagine what happens when bamboo sticks are shoved under your fingernails. How will you handle the pain and not give away precious intelligence if your body and mind has not experience that type of abuse. I am not condoning this behavior, I am just trying to explain some of the reasons behind the behavior.

That is how you earn your blood wings. I had over 40 holes in my chest and a bloody T-shirt when it was done. I nearly passed out several times. It was an experience I will never forget.