A friend who is a veteran journalist passes along this tale:
Story
goes that during WWII, the British Indian Army planned to drop a company
of the toughest Gurkhas behind Japanese lines to help stop the oncoming
invaders. A British major explained the
plan to the Gurkha sergeant
major, saying: "We'll drop you from 600 feet."
The
sergeant major talked to his troops, then went back to the major: "Sah, the men
say 600 feet too high. They want to be dropped lower." The British major said: "All right, sergeant
major, we'll make it 500 feet."
The
sergeant major spoke to his troops again, and again went back to the major:
"Sah, the men say 500 feet is still too high and want to be dropped
lower." The major said: "Sergeant major,
we could go down to 400 feet to drop you but that wouldn't leave enough time
for the parachutes to open."
Sergeant
major: "Ooohhh, paraaaachutes???"
By the way, the Gurkhas were the most decent people I encountered
operating checkpoints in Iraq -- professional but friendly.
florriebassingbourn/flickr
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