Filmed by a French team that was on the island doing a nature documentary when the invasion began - Film follows the 2/325th Infantry of the 82nd Airborne Division. It specifically follows 1st Platoon of A Company
Thank you so much for this upload. I was a Private First Class, an M203 Grenadier in 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, A Company 3/325 when this video was being shot. I heard that this video existed while on Guard Duty during the Winter of 1984. I've never seen it until now. It surely brings back some memories.
@@seanv4779 No. The two guys linked up with us by the second day, and we escorted them back to the airport so they could leave. It was obvious who the enemy was, and two guys looking scared and confused, with a movie camera, were not fitting the bill
You got to be kidding me! I was a PV2 or maybe PFC in, you guessed it, A co 3/325 and a Grenadiier! 2nd PLT, last name Waters. I am in touch with some guys from the PLT and ran into 1SG Rutland at Benning back in 86. I see your post is old, but had to give it a shot to say hello!
Wait a minute! The US didn't do you any favor they were behind the assignation of Maurice Bishop. Mr Bishop wanted to transform Grenada into a better place to live. The hypocrisy of the US is sickening
Yeah, on the first C-130 to land, the first one out was the Division commander, then our own company commander, CPT Jacoby, and two others . I don't remember if Mad Jack was on the first plane or not, but I was the fifth one out the door, since I was the "guard" of CPT Jacoby. Actually, I was the company sniper, but until they let me loose I hung around the company commander.
Thank you for uploading this video. The intervention in Grenada is one of the most obscure conflicts in the modern American mind, along with Panama. They may be small and short but they are just as fascinating as conflicts like the Gulf War as far as I’m concerned. I think there is a lot to be learned from these conflicts as well, not just militarily, but culturally and historically as well. It really is a shame how forgotten they seem to be.
The few of us who were there, both military and civilian, will remember it, but as we pass on, those memories will vanish. This is why I put so much on the internet
this is really really interesting to see ,feels like a movie but so real, so true ,i love the patriotism of my people,this is very touching to see and trying to understand at the same time, how our grenada ended up here,we were never thought anything much or at all about the grenadian revolution in my time (i was born on March 13th ,1990) all we recited was the pledge and sing the national anthem ,while reciting foolish colonialism history and false culture
My first tour. Aco 3/325 2nd PLT. This was more strategic than many realize. My PLT took the Cuban Ambassadors house and while many documents had been burnt, we found some that detailed their plan to basically ilsand hope north up the Caribbean island chain to get as close to the US as possible. There were arms and munitions for about 7,000 Cubans to come in in the 72 hours after we hit them. We also corrected many shortcomings between joint services that paid off big time in Panama and future conflicts.
This was Reagan breaking the Soviet Union's spread. This was the first domino to fall, that eventually led to the wall coming down and the Soviet Union becoming a memory.
@@Irish_Pirate Agree 100%. What unit were you in? I plan to visit there again and think I saw that you went back to visit? I bounce around South America alot. Let me know if you get down this way!
@@jackwalker9492 I was on the first plane to land with the 82nd Airborne. I was in A Company, 2/325th Infantry. Been to Grenada twice now, once for the 30th anniversary and once for the 35th. This year is the 40th, and I might go. Don't know yet. Taking my daughter to Japan, so that has a higher priority.
@@Irish_Pirate Cool! So we were attached to 2nd as you had a Cohort company which I guess didnt deploy? Hell, we in flight rigged and de-rigged I dont know how many times en route. Take care IP!
9:55 Wow you can clearly hear the radio interference from the radars on the ships blasting on full combat power from miles away. Imagine what radiation levels are onboard these ships.
@@Gpacharlie Yeah, I heard a story, but can't verify for sure if it's true. In 60's the russians used a microwave radar as improvised non-lethal weapon against chinese in the early stages of Damansky island border conflict. It didn't go well for the chinese.
I remember I was 2 and a half years old and some American soldier smiled and winked at me. A friendly face made the experience not traumatic for me. I wasn’t scared of what was happening after that because I saw the Americans then as friendly. If only that soldier knew how that affected me positively.
I do appreciate the news reports and documentaries about the event... but this is exactly what I was looking for.. just raw footage of things happening. Thanks for uploading this.👍👍
All we got that on the movies about Operation Urgent Fury is “Heartbreak Ridge”. Even on pc games it’s hardly much mentioned I saw it in “The Operational Art Of War” PC game as one tactical scenario.
On the first day the United States Army faced them with less than 500 Rangers, 300 Paratroopers of the 2/325, and less than 100 operators from the Special Forces and Navy SEALs. Less than 1,000 men, or about one battalion, were used to take an airfield, rescue hostages, and destroy any resistance. Though we had air and naval superiority, it was a daunting task to those on the ground. Add to this that we had to limit any civilian casualties. Amazingly all the objectives were completed 72 hours after notification on October 24th. There were 19 killed, 152 wounded and nine helicopters were shot down. Now, compare this to "Blackhawk Down" that had three helicopters shot down, and less wounded. The difference is that the media was not allowed on the island due to Reagan's orders, so they decided to ridicule it, make it a joke. That perception still exists to this day.
There are two videos of actual combat in Grenada, so not only is this some of the best footage, so is the other one. Yeah, this was the one that no reporters were allowed anywhere near the island. The two videos are this one, from the French guys who were there filming a nature documentary, and then the second video, that was filmed by a British expatriate, who lived there.
@@InsideOutsider81 Yeah. This is why, in many scenes, they revert back to their natural tendencies, and are filming flowers, birds, etc. I bet they never thought that they would have the most sought after footage of the war when they got back to France
@@Irish_Pirate Just imagine you go to some pretty Caribbean island to film the nature there, and a war breaks out! I wonder if they knew how fragile the situation was in Grenada before they went there?
Yeah... hate to tell you this, but that never happened. No one was "lost" at anytime. No POWs were taken by the enemy. Everyone knew where everyone was all the time. Also, "the jungle" is an island you can walk across in a day or two.
From my book, Triple Canopy, "The United States officially lists 19 killed during the invasion, however if the Special Forces soldiers are counted, and those mortally wounded and died elsewhere, the number could be as high as 29 killed. Initially the military stated that 87 men had been wounded, but later the number was adjusted to 152 wounded. During the invasion 29 Cubans were killed and 59 wounded, with 602 unwounded prisoners being taken. There were also 67 Grenadians killed and 368 wounded."
+Patrick O'Kelley A big sacrifice of our young heroes for a good cause. We need to remember our all of our soldiers who have been willing to fight, have fought, have fought and were wounded, and who fought and died. Also all soldiers hurt or killed in training to fight. Freedom is not free.
@@Gpacharlie Grenada was a fight against communism;however, from 1991 until now, the U.S. army is just fighting in countries where we have no business being there in the first place aka Syria, Afghanistan, etc.
@@MattMerica76 I don't know what report that is. The pilot was Jeb Seagle. He was the co-pilot to Captain Timothy Howard. When their Cobra crashed, Seagle was able to pull Howard out of the helicopter. Howard had his arm blown off, but he was still able to crash-land the helicopter. Seagle left Howard in tall grass and then tried to find a way to get them rescued. The Grenadian PRA began to surround them. Another Cobra, flown by CPT John Giguere and LT Jeffrey Scharver came in and fired up the Grenadians. The Cobra continued to fire on them until it had run out of ammunition. It was then hit repeatedly by anti-aircraft fire and went down into the bay, killing both Giguere and Scharver. A CH-47 helicopter was able to come in, since Giguere's Cobra was drawing fire, and rescue Howard. They did not find Seagle. Later Seagle was found, dead on the edge of the water. Newsweek published a photo of him, that drew some fire. So there were no Cubans anywhere outside of the Salines airfield area, and it was "locals" or Grenadian PRA that killed Seagle. Some versions of the story had Seagle being gunned down as he was trying to surrender.
There is no "worse" or "better". Both had their intense combat, both had their deaths. The paratroopers and soldiers who fought in Panama learned from Grenada, and tried not to make the same mistakes. So it was "better" in that sense. The same is true for Desert Storm. Due to mistakes made in both Grenada and Panama, Desert Storm was fought much better.
The dead Cubans from the fight right before these cameramen showed up. They pulled them out, and lined them up for Graves Registration to take care of them
@@mephistophelescountcaglios1489 Actually there were almost three dozen killed, as they fought the Rangers and 82nd Airborne on Point Salines. 59 more were wounded, and 602 were taken prisoner. They were building an airfield to supply both the war in Nicaragua and the war in Angola. There were massive amounts of arms, ammo and heavy firepower to be sent to Central America and Africa, to spread communism. So, yes... communism had to be stopped. By the way, cutting off that resupply base put a huge hole in the logistics of the Cuban armed forces in both Africa and Central America.
