Pfc
Jesse Castillo of C Company of the 161st Engineer Company was in the first
lift on a plane headed for the golf course DZ. When his jumpmaster,
Lieutenant Burt, had the paratroopers stand up and check equipment, Castillo
found to his horror that he had not buckled his leg straps. When Lieutenant
Burt asked, "Are you ready?" Castillo yelled at the top of his lungs, "Noooooo."
Castillo knew that if he jumped with his leg straps unbuckled, he
would fall through the harness when he got his opening shock.
Fortunately, the plane missed the DZ on the first pass. Castillo enlisted
the aid of his assistant machine gunner, Pfc. Thomas Gambrell, to help him
secure the straps. By the time of the second pass, Castillo was ready. When
he got out the door, his chute opened properly. Just as he got his opening
shock and was facing the doorof the plane, he saw a man jump whose chute
never opened. Castillo watched him plummet all the way to the ground. When
Castillo hit the ground, he ran about one hundred yards to the point where
he saw the body land. It was his assistant, Thomas Lambrell.
Jesse S. Castillo
via
Corregidor - The Rock Force Assault
Lt. Gen. E. M. Flanagan, Jr.
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