WWII Vet Sings "Blood on the Risers"

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    Some additional verses of "Blood on the Risers" sung by "Screaming Eagle" WWII Veteran Vince Speranza during Week of the Eagles 2019 at U.S. Army Fort Campbell. 

    "Blood Upon the Risers" is an American paratrooper song from World War II. The song tells of the final fatal jump of a rookie paratrooper whose parachute fails to deploy. This results in him falling to his death.

    The song is also a cautionary tale on the dangers of improper preparation of a parachute jump. The protagonist does everything right, except he forgets to hook on his static line which would automatically deploy his main parachute, and he in panic deploys his reserve chute in bad falling position with disastrous results. As the reserve chute is stored in a belly bag on the World War II era rig, deploying it in bad falling position could easily lead to an accident not unlike the one described in the song. "Risers" are the four straps which connect the suspension lines of the parachute canopy to the parachute harness.

    Video by US Army

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