Today In History:  19 October  [1928]   --  Early US Paratroop experiements in Texas

Six enlisted men make parachute jumps from separate planes over Brooks Field, Texas, secure a machine gun also dropped by parachute, and begin firing within three minutes after leaving the aircraft.

Despite these favouravle results it was not until 1939, spurred by the developments in Germany, that the US Army Chief of Infantry proposed the development of an "air infantry" (paratroop) service.

PHOTO: US Paratroops aboard an aircraft during WW2.

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.