Tag Archives: 82nd Airborne

Good Luck Charms

Leave a reply

Title: Good Luck Charms

Informant info: Matt Menezes. Informant attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH as a United States Army Veteran (2004-2013) . Informant was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed twice to Afghanistan (2007-08, 2008-09) as well as spent two years as a drill sergeant for basic combat training (2011-13).

Type of lore: Customary/Verbal Folklore, Superstition, Myth

Language: English

Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Informant was interviewed at Dartmouth College. Informant was asked about good luck charms during their time in the military. Informant discussed how in their MRE (food rations) there were pieces of candy called “charms” that nobody ate because they were considered bad luck.

Associated file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/11vv5a27kzlycgq/Dartmouth_Folklore_Collections_Matt_Menezes.mp4?dl=0

Transcript:

Item: [I have recorded the item exactly how it was told to me in the interview]:I wouldn’t say there are good luck charms; I would say that there are a lot more bad luck charms. I was a paratrooper so I used to jump out of airplanes all the time and something you never tell anyone when they are about to jump is good luck. It is just one of those things that whenever it is said somebody gets hurt. One of the other things is one of the pieces of candy that comes in your MRE or field rations are called “charms,” but you’re not supposed to eat those because it’s really bad luck. One of the other things is there is something called the rain turtle. So what you do is, because I was and infantryman and we were always outside, is the rain turtle is somebody draws a turtle on the ground and if you urinate on the turtle it’s supposed to summon the rain gods and have it torrentially downpour.

Informant’s comments: During the informants response he commented on MREs which is an abbreviation of meals ready to eat. Informant told me that the following is a common superstition across all branches of the military.

Collector’s comments: Another one of the veterans we interviewed from a different part of the military also followed the rule about not eating the “charms”

Ghost Stories

Leave a reply

Title: Ghost Stories

Informant info: Matt Menezes. Informant attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH as a United States Army Veteran (2004-2013) . Informant was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed twice to Afghanistan (2007-08, 2008-09) as well as spent two years as a drill sergeant for basic combat training (2011-13).

Type of lore: Customary/Verbal, Tradition, Ritual, Initiation

Language: English

Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Informant was interviewed at Dartmouth College. Informant was asked about ghost stories while serving and in training. He could not come up with any ghost stories, but discussed some of the initiation rituals that he had to go through.

Associated file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/11vv5a27kzlycgq/Dartmouth_Folklore_Collections_Matt_Menezes.mp4?dl=0

Item: [I have recorded the item exactly how it was told to me in the interview]:I think the one that what everybody gets usually when they are in basic combat training is that all of the privates conspire together and talk about their drill sergeant and kind of think that he is some kind of sadistic person that just always gets pleasure out of making us do push ups and things of that nature so that is one of the stories from training.

Informant’s comments: No specific stories came to mind

Collector’s comments:  Each person has a different version of what the definition of a “ghost story” became apparent.

Pre-Deployment Ceremonies

Leave a reply

Title: Pre-Deployment Ceremonies

Informant info: Matt Menezes. Informant attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH as a United States Army Veteran (2004-2013) . Informant was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed twice to Afghanistan (2007-08, 2008-09) as well as spent two years as a drill sergeant for basic combat training (2011-13).

Type of lore: Customary/ Verbal, Tradition, Ceremony, Recipe, Toasts

Language: English

Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Informant was interviewed at Dartmouth College. Informant was asked about various ceremonies that they experienced during their time in the military. Informant took a minute to remember the different ceremonies. The informant discussed the pre-deployment ceremony and how they would make different mixes of drinks that were inspired by alcohol from different regions of the world in which they had military victories.

Associated file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/11vv5a27kzlycgq/Dartmouth_Folklore_Collections_Matt_Menezes.mp4?dl=0

 

Transcript: [I have recorded the item exactly how it was told to me in the interview]: So the military in general has ceremonies for everything. Going from promotion ceremonies, award ceremonies and just kind of pre-deployment ceremonies. One of the things, one of the ceremonies in particular is the pre and post deployment ceremony, where we basically mix a bunch of different liquors together to be a grog that is supposed to signify all our units past combat contributions in the United States History. So for example, I remember one of them was Schnapps for defeating the Germans. Another one was, I think a bottle of wine for beating the Italians and something else for the French, but I can’t remember.

Informant’s comments: Spoke about how those ceremonies were always good times.

Collector’s comments: Although informant spoke light-heartedly about the pre-deployment ceremonies, the interviewer noted a very serious tone to the ceremonies as well.

Unit Song: Boots, Boots, Boots

Leave a reply

Title: Unit Song: Boots, Boots, Boots

Informant info: Matt Menezes. Informant attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH as a United States Army Veteran. Informant was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed twice to Afghanistan as well as spent two years as a drill sergeant for basic combat training.

Type of lore: Customary/ Verbal, Tradition, Song, Lyrics, Chants

Language: English

Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Informant was interviewed at Dartmouth College. Informant was asked about any songs that they sung during their time in boot camp or while serving abroad. The informant laughed before they began speaking saying he didn’t remember all the words. The lyrics discuss the life in which the 82nd Airborne unit troops lived.

Associated file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/11vv5a27kzlycgq/Dartmouth_Folklore_Collections_Matt_Menezes.mp4?dl=0

Transcript: [I have recorded the item exactly how it was told to me in the interview]: There is a song related to my unit. I don’t remember all of it, but I remember that it goes something like this: Put on your boots, boots, boots, and parachutes, chutes chutes, we’re going up, up up , we’re going down, down down, we’re all-American and proud to be. That’s all I remember.

Informant’s comments: He sang lots of songs during his time in the military, but did not remember the others or the words. 

Collector’s comments: Informant was nervous to sing, but had a smile on his face.  He also did the arm motion associated with the song. His arm at a right angle swinging across his body.