It was August, summer of 1999 in hot, humid North Carolina. I was in the 82nd Airborne Division and we were on a mass tactical exercise doing a jump from a perfectly good airplane. The plane we were in was a C130...and most people that get sick in the air get sick on it (including me sometimes) as people are crammed in, knees interlocked and laden with equipment. It is also very warm up there and these are not your average commercial flights...the fly erradically up, down, turning and churning. "Cherries" is the term used for new people that don't have many jumps. This particular exercise we were scheduled to jump out at around 5pm...heat of the day and there were several "cherries" along for their first daylight tactical jump in the 82nd Airborne.
Me and some buddies decided were would bring along some beef stew in a plastic baggie and mess with people. So after we took off and was in the air we waited about 30 minutes. I pulled the baggie of stew out and played like I was sick and secretly emptied some of the stew into a fresh barf bag they passed out before we took flight. I acted as if I was sick and "threw up" into the bag. My buddy across from me acted sick too and I passed the bag to him and immediately after me he acted like he vomited in the bag too. Passed it over to another guy...you get the point. Anyhow it drew the attention of both new guys and seasoned paratroopers and they all had a sickening expression on their faces. As they handed the sickness bag back to me...I proceeded to empty the contents into my mouth and let it run down my chin.
Immediately one guy REALLY puked...another REALLY puked...and another..and I swear there was about 8-10 people that lost their stomachs all the way down the line. It was the most funniest time on a jump I can ever remember.
