On Mon, 30 Mar 2020 17:35:07 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 3/30/2020 9:49 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2020 17:40:59 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



Today is National Vietnam War Era Veterans Day. It is a US holiday
observed annually on March 29. It recognizes veterans who served in the
US military during the Vietnam War.

A neighboring town up here has a park dedicated to to Vietnam Era Vets.

I didn't know this until a few months ago that I have
a "brick" in the park walkway.

No clue how it got there or how they got my name. A friend
of mine noticed it when she was at the park and took a
picture of it.

https://funkyimg.com/i/33uvj.jpg

===

I noticed that one of the bricks near you was for a parachute tester.
Assuming that wasn't a joke, and not knowing how they test, that must
be one heck of a hazardous specialty.



Actually it's a rating in the Navy called "PR" (parachute rigger)
but the full job title is, "Aircrew Survival Equipmentman".

A Navy pilot on an aircraft carrier (or even land based) has a
crew of enlisted people who maintain, repair and prep the
pilot's particular aircraft. One of my sons was an
Aviation Electronics Tech who maintained the avionics
on the his assigned pilots' aircraft.

A "PR" is one who packs the parachute ... checks for any
defects and makes any necessary repairs.

A pilot never wants to **** off his PR. :-)

They are a tight knitted crew though and feel responsible
for the pilot's safety.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircrew_survival_equipmentman


And the rigger in the Air Force has to jump with a random parachute from
the supplies once a year. When I first was stationed at Travis in
1965-66, the Riggers had the back of the hanger room of the hanger we used.

Ditto for the Army. Part of graduation for the riggers is jumping with the chute
they packed.
--

Freedom Isn't Free!