Well... okay. I was a kid in the 82nd ABN. We just completed a combat parachute assault into Panama (jumping from 450' AGL @ 130 knots will give you one hell of a jolt). We were taking a little fire, and one of our guys got hit in the door before we could jump. The pilot comes on the intercom and says, "Hang on boys, it's a little hot down there so we're going to go around for another pass." The Jump Master says, "F*** THAT! Green light, Go, Go, Go!" Of course, the Candy-A$$ Air Force pilot adds more throttle and begins a hard left bank - we all jumped out anyway (more like stumbled out because of the roll). Let me fast forward to the helicopter stuff...
After we completed the airfield seizure, our Company prepared for an Air Assault into Panama Vieho (old Panama - the ruins on the edge of the city). Task Force 160 came in with more Blackhawks than I had ever seen in my entire life (to this day). The entire Batallion was conducting some kind of Air Assault to several key locations in the region. It was a pretty cool sight (gave me a stiffy). Well, we loaded 20 troopers to a bird... no seats, no belts, and no safety strap across the cargo area. They did have the Kevlar floors put in to stop small arms ground fire (thank God).
SIDE NOTE: My pack weighed exactly 110 pounds. I also carried 3000 rounds of linked ammunition, two grenages, signal flare, protective (gas) mask, water, one mortor round (each trooper had to carry one), and a Claymore mine. Some of the other guys carried a lot more crap (M60 has a tripod, Mortor has a base plate and computer, etc). There were 20 of us in each bird! How the hell did that thing get off the ground?
Even though the AC-130 gun ships were blowing up anything that remotely looked like a threat, I was already a little punchy because we received a fair amount of fire when we jumped in. By the way, an AC-130 firing at night looks like a laser beam from the plane to the ground and every FIFTH round is a tracer (awesome firepower)! But, it was morning by the time we secured the airfield and got going in the Blackhawks.
Anyway, I had a light machine gun (M249 - slightly smaller than the M60 you see on TV, but it has a much faster rate of fire). I got a choice seat on the edge. We were supposed to take down the Panamanian Defense Force Anti-terrorist Unit and barracks next to Panama Vieho. So, we start hauling a$$ in a low-level flight across the jungle and then along the coast of the Canal. I was supposed to lay down surpressive fire when we reached our objective.
About half way there, the pilot performs a very gentle quick-stop and brings us to an OGE hover. I didn't know what was going on. Suddenly, two Apache helicopters raise up from the jungle. I NEVER even saw them - they came out of nowhere! They criss-crossed in front of our stick and then began to escort us to the LZ (they must have had a stiffy, too).
Well, the LZ looked good and we were about to make our approach. Of course, all hell broke loose! We started receiving sniper fire from civilian buildings, and we couldn't get a fix on the little ba$tards because they were using loop holes (small holes in wall - no silouette to target). Just as we were about to touch down, the pilot got shot in the head (messy).
At about 5 feet off the deck, we got the hell out of the bird and returned fire. The co-pilot kept the aircraft STEADY AND AT A LOW HOVER ON THE LZ!!! I don't know if I could grab the stick and stay on mission after my friend's skull was scattered all over the instrument panel. That pilot has cast iron balls the size of watermellons! I wish I knew who that guy was, because he kept a lot of troopers from getting seriously hurt or killed. After it was all over, we received reports that our bird had 23 bullet holes in the fuselage!
To Mr. Task Force 160 Co-Pilot: Thanks for keeping the faith, Brother!