Military Adventures | bill-bounds

Military Days

UNLOADED GUNS DO FIRE

(1955)

By Bill Bounds

I was sitting on my bunk in the squad room polishing my boots . It was Saturday afternoon and most of the troops were off duty and gone to town. One guy, a member of the post pistol team was cleaning his semi-automatic .45 cal. pistol two bunks away from me.

Another guy came in and wanted to handle and “get a feel” for handling the pistol. The pistol team guy showed the visitor how the pistol worked and how to chamber a round after fully loading a magazine of live ammo into it.

The pistol team guy removed the magazine, handed the pistol to the other guy, told him it was unloaded and he could hold it, aim it, cock it and pull the trigger because it was not loaded.

The two guys were sitting on a bunk two bunks away and facing me. The guy aimed the cocked pistol at a bunk leg between me and him and pulled the trigger.

“Bang!” I did a back flip over my bunk striking the back of my head on the wall. The “unloaded” pistol fired a bullet that missed the bunk leg, ricochet off the linoleum covered concrete floor, passed about four inches from my head, ricochet off the cinder block wall behind me and went through the window glass of an adjoining wall.

I got up, wiping specs of blood from my face, determined that I was only slightly wounded by flying sand, chips of concrete, particles of linoleum and small pieces of the lead bullet. My bloody face scared the “daylights” out of the pistol team guy. The guy that pulled the trigger had vanished. Luckily, none of the flying particles struck my eyes.

Suddenly, I remembered that firearms with live ammunition were strictly banned from the squad room.

After we both calmed down, the pistol team guy was very apologetic. I told him if he ever brought his pistol, with live ammo, into the squad room again, I would report him to the battery commander. We became friends after that episode. Always handle any gun as if it is loaded!

Millard Fillmore Bounds

Unit Administrative Assistant

Chaplain's Assistant

US Marine Corps 1952

TOUCHY SITUATION WITH LAND MINES

by Bill Bounds

(~1961)

After graduating from Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga. and becoming a Combat Infantry 2nd Lieutenant, I was assigned to the 106th Engineer Battalion`s Company C, headquartered in Lumberton, Ms. This assignment required me to complete the Basic Combat Engineer Officers course at Fort Belvoir, Va. in order to be a qualified Combat Engineer Platoon Leader.

This combat engineer school taught me how to build roads, floating bridges, fixed bridges, bunkers, personnel barriers, buildings, and how to use explosives for construction or demolition purposes, and build or remove war trenches, barbed wire and other barriers, and to lay and remove minefields.

Most of this training was fun and very useful for the Army`s combat engineer and infantry men or anyone who was required to build things or demolish anything that was to keep the U. S. Army moving or to keep the enemy army from moving.

Several days of training included laying minefields (anti- personnel and anti-tank mines). We learned how to survey and mark our own minefields, so friendly troops could go around or through them safely. We learned how to conceal and booby trap these mines to make it more hazardous for enemy troops to remove the mines . We learned how to find and remove enemy mines , and most importantly that any enemy mine may be booby trapped .

Near the end of this course, the instructor, a West Point Captain, looked straight at me and said; “So you think you are now qualified to train and supervise troops to lay and booby trap mines, or find and remove enemy mines which may be booby trapped”. I replied “Yes Sir”. The captain then said; “There is an anti-tank mine hidden, in the field in front of you that may be booby trapped. Find it and remove it. You can`t tell somebody else to do what you won`t do yourself.”

All other personnel, including the Captain, took cover behind an earthen bunker about 50 yards away.

I easily found the mine with an electronic mine detector. I then unsheathed my bayonet and very gingerly probed into the dirt until I had the dimensions of the mine. The mine was approximately 12 inches in diameter. I carefully removed tiny increments of the dirt until the top and sides were uncovered. The mine appeared to be about 4 inches thick.

So far I had not discovered a booby trap. Booby traps were usually anti-personnel mines or hand grenades placed under the anti-tank mines with the arming pin removed. When the anti-tank mine is disturbed the armed anti-personnel or grenade explodes, causing the bigger mine to explode too. Of course, this explosion would destroy any equipment or vaporize any personnel near it.

I used a piece of wire to probe gently about 4 inches under the mine. About the 3rd probe I struck something firm. I yelled; “ I found it. It’s booby trapped!” The Captain gave the command “Stop!” The Captain then said; “When you find a mine that is booby trapped, you do not remove it. You place your own explosive on top of the exposed mine and blow it up.

I placed about a quarter pound of C-4 plastic explosive, with electric primer on top of the mines, strung electric wire from them to the protection of the personnel bunker, connected the wires to a plunger type detonator, hollered “Fire-in the Hole! Fire in the Hole!” and pushed the plunger down. The C-4 and the mines exploded loudly into a ball of flame and smoke.

The Captain said “ Lieutenant Bounds you survived and passed the test. Just remember, never ask somebody to do a job that you are not brave enough to do yourself.”

Benjamin Franklin Bounds - World War I

American Expeditionary Force - Russia

MY FIRST PARACHUTE JUMP

(1954)

By Bill Bounds

After two weeks of very intense basic airborne training at the “jump school” at Fort Bragg, NC, it was time to make my first parachute jump from a C-119 “Flying Boxcar” airplane from a height of 1300 feet.

After the warning light on the inside of the airplane came on, the “jump master” checked my equipment, making sure that my static line was attached to the airplane. When the green light came on, he commanded “Stand in the door”. I moved to the door. The “jump master” tapped me on the butt and hollered “Jump!”

Without hesitation, I jumped out of the airplane door into a 140 mile per hour blast of air, counted “1000, 2000, 3000, 4000" and looked up to check my parachute. It had performed as expected.

About a minute later I saw the ground rushing towards me. I did a perfect parachute landing fall, but then I made a very grave mistake. The next action required collapsing the parachute to get it out of the ground wind. I goofed!

I lay there on the ground thankful that all had gone well and wondering if I had really jumped from the airplane or was it just a dream.

The wind was blowing about 18 mph. It grabbed my chute, lifted me about three feet above the ground horizontally and slammed me into sandy ground face first. I went through all the procedures I was taught to collapse a chute in the wind. The wind was just too strong for me to collapse the parachute.

After about three more face first slams into the sandy earth, a sergeant, who was on the drop zone grading our jumps, ran my chute down and collapsed it. I got up exhausted with eyes, nose and mouth full of sand.

After spitting sand, I said, “Sergeant, I’m sure glad you were fast enough to run and catch my chute.” The sergeant said. “You did everything right until you hit the ground, then you screwed up. You now know that it’s very important to collapse that chute before it leans over into the ground wind.” He gave me a passing grade on my jump. He figured I would never make that mistake again.

He was right, I never made that mistake again. It was get on the ground and get that parachute collapsed immediately. Over the next three years I made 30 more jumps and got my parachute out of the wind successfully each time.

Note copied from the back of this picture: This is just before my first jump after two weeks of rare and tear. This is just with reserve and parachute without full field equipment. This what you call a Hollywood Jump. Your Paratrooper Brother, Ira W. Bounds ~1960

MY MOST DANGEROUS JUMP

FROM AN AIRPLANE

(1955)

By Bill Bounds

Today’s parachute jump was to be a full scale simulated combat jump. This meant all individual combat gear was worn plus a main and an emergency parachute by each of the paratroopers. That’s greater than 90 pounds of equipment strapped on each trooper. There were 40 paratroopers on the plane ready to take off for a mass jump.

The fully loaded airplane began to taxi out onto the runway for takeoff. Suddenly the pilot shut down the engines and braked the plane to a screeching halt. The door to the plane’s cockpit opened. An aircraft crew member came running through the plane, hollering”Get off this airplane”! “Get off this airplane”!

The crew member opened both jump doors in the rear of the plane. The smell of aviation gasoline was overpowering. We had to exit the airplane single file and I was the 17th man from the door.

That meant 16 men were to get out of the plane ahead of me. The floor of the plane was about five feet from the ground.

There were three greater than 200 lb. troopers behind me pushing as hard as they could to get to the jump door . I jumped out the airplane door as far as I could into a confused pile of men and equipment. I knew I had to get out of the way of those three 200 pound men jumping out the door behind me.

As I landed in the confused mass of men and equipment on the ground, I twisted and turned and rolled to the ground, avoiding the heavy troopers coming behind me. I was dizzy from the aviation gas fumes, but I got onto my feet and ran as hard as I could with 90 pounds of equipment strapped onto me to get away from the hazardous aviation gasoline spraying from the airplane.

A fuel line had ruptured on the airplane. We were very fortunate that it did not catch fire. I think it`s very unusual that my most dangerous and scary jump was from an airplane that was still on the ground.

MY 23rd PARACHUTE JUMP

(1956)

By Bill Bounds

This jump was a simulated combat jump. This meant full combat gear, including M-1 rifle, horseshoe roll (blanket, ½ tent) combat pack, entrenching tool, canteen full of water, C-rations, etc. This was more than ninety pounds of equipment attached to me for the jump.

This was a “mass jump” of several plane loads of 40 parachutists from each plane. I was about the 10th man of a 20 man “stick” of parachutists to exit the right side of the airplane from a height of 1800 feet.

I followed the man in front of me out of the airplane door into a 140 mph blast of wind, counted “1000, 2000, 3000, 4000,” looked up to check my parachute. It wasn’t open!

The parachute suspension lines were twisted like a rope all the way to the skirt of the parachute, keeping it from opening. I immediately began to shake the suspension lines back and forth with both hands and the parachute began slowly spinning. This allowed it to begin slowly opening.

I kept shaking the lines with one hand and I placed the other hand on the rip cord of my reserve parachute. I was keeping a wary eye on the ground. My parachute finally opened completely. I made a perfect parachute landing fall, thankful that I did not have to open my reserve parachute.

I got my main parachute collapsed, hit the quick release buckle on my parachute harness, got out of the harness, folded up my parachute, and placed it in my aviators kit bag . Then the guy who jumped out immediately in front of me, from the same plane landed, got his parachute collapsed and looked at me and asked, “How in the hell did you get down here and get your parachute gathered up and put away so fast?” I didn’t bother to tell him how I did it.

I figure I fell about 1000 feet before my chute began to open. I was thankful that I had not panicked and lost control while free falling towards the earth. I was also thankful that the jump had been from 1800 feet instead of the usual 1300 ft.

A HAZARDOUS NIGHT JUMP??

(1956)

By Bill Bounds

Tonight’s parachute jump was to be a full scale simulated combat night jump. This meant all individual combat gear was worn plus one main and one emergency parachute by each of the paratroopers. That’s greater than 90 pounds of gear strapped on each trooper.

There were 40 paratroopers packed into the airplane. It was a moonlit night and we were flying under blackout conditions.

After flying for about an hour, one trooper got a case of motion sickness. The jump master allowed him to move to the rear and stand in one of the opened jump doors. The sick trooper had just gotten to the jump door for a breath of fresh air when a loud explosion and flash of light occurred.

The port side engine had blown up almost in the sick trooper’s face. All of a sudden his reserve parachute billowed back into the cargo area of the plane, startling and frightening all of us troopers. We did not know what had happened to the airplane or why the parachute came billowing back into the plane.

The jump master quickly got the sick trooper and parachute gathered up and secured. It was the sick trooper’s emergency parachute that opened. It was never known whether the frightened trooper pulled the rip cord handle or if the handle snagged on something at the door as he hastily removed himself from the door, after the engine exploded in his face.

It would have been a tangled mess of troops, parachute suspension lines and parachute if we had to make an emergency exit from the plane.

After the jump master got everybody calmed down, I could see through a fuselage window that the exhaust plume from the starboard engine had changed from a constant light blue glow about 24 inches long to a long yellow and red flame about 4 to 6 feet long. The pilot had revved up the one good engine to keep the plane in the air.

There was enough moonlight to see that troopers sitting across the plane from me were excitedly looking through the small glass windows behind me. I turned and looked out to see what the excitement was about. There was enough moonlight to let us see that the huge propeller on the port side of the airplane had been feathered and was not turning. I was frightened because I didn’t know if the airplane could keep flying with just one engine operating.

The pilot announced that we would discontinue the mission and return to the airport. I was tenth man in the “stick” (meaning that in an emergency nine men would have to exit the plane before I could jump out.)

I was hoping and praying the remaining engine, which had been greatly speeded up would not fail. I was ready to jump out into the dark immediately if needed even though I had no idea if we were over land or open sea.

We flew for 45 minutes with that revved up one engine before landing safely at Pope Air Force Base.

Ready to make 1st parachute jump 1954

Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Private Bill C. Bounds

Either Bill or Ira about to perform a

Hollywood jump.

David Bounds, US Navy

Petty Officer 1st Class

11 years Nuclear Submarines

~ 1989

Vernon Soley, US Army

Helicopter Transportation and Machine gunner

~1965

QUIT JUMP SCHOOL???

(1954)

By Bill Bounds

I was one of about 30 “would be” paratroopers listening to and watching a sergeant, at Fort Bragg, NC, describe and illustrate the techniques for safely parachuting from a flying aircraft.

I heard “revved up” airplane engines. I looked to my right and saw a C-119 “Flying Boxcar” taking off from Pope Air Force Base, which is adjacent to Fort Bragg. The plane reached about 200 feet of altitude when one engine exploded with a great noise and “ball of fire”.

The plane gradually lost altitude and crashed into a new three-story barrack about one half mile away with another loud explosion and ball of fire. I witnessed both explosions. The crash killed the five men on the airplane and two construction workers in the barrack. Fortunately, the plane was not loaded with paratroopers and the barrack was not yet housing soldiers.

I was scheduled to make my first parachute jump the next week from the same kind of airplane (“Flying Boxcar”).

I had second thoughts about finishing jump school. After thinking about it for several hours, I decided I was not a quitter and continued training and became a full time paratrooper. The next week I made my first of 30 parachute jumps from a “Flying Boxcar”.

AUGUSTUS L. “GUS” BOUNDS

MARINE VETERAN, WWll

1944-1945

Gus joined the U. S Marine Corp in February, 1944 and did his basic Marine training near San Diego,

California. He was stationed near Mojave Marine Air Station. After completing this training he rode to the Pacific War Area from San Diego to New Hebrides on a small aircraft carrier, the USS Kwajalein, which was also carrying F4U Corsair aircraft to the war area.

After several weeks of rest and training in New Hebrides, Gus rode a liberty ship (name unknown) to the Palau Islands, transferred to a Higgins landing craft and rode it to shore, under heavy Japanese enemy fire, to the beach of the Island of Peleliu. The Japanese troops were firing rifles, machine guns, mortars, rockets, throwing hand grenades, and firing many artillery rounds at the U. S. Marines as they came ashore. The Marines prevailed and after several months captured the island in what some historians have called “THE BLOODIEST BATTLE” of WWll.

Gus served as a runner for a Col. Matthews. This meant that he was under enemy fire while carrying messages to different unit headquarters on the island. He also served in an air squadron, flying over enemy positions and tossing out surrender propaganda leaflets to the Japanese troops. Very few Japs chose to surrender and most of them were killed.

Gus was on Peleliu when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. After Peleliu was secured, he rode to Guam through very rough weather, on an LST. He also went to Guadalcanal. He returned to the USA to Bremerton, Washington on the “crippled” Battleship USS Pennsylvania.

Gus was honorably discharged from the Marines in 1945.