A group of Gurkhas from Nepal were asked if they would be
willing to jump
from transport planes into combat against the Indonesians if the
need arose.
The Gurkhas had the right to turn down the request because they
had never
been trained as paratroopers. Bowden quotes Davis's account of
the story:
"Now the Gurkhas usually agreed to anything, but on this
occasion the
provisionally rejected the plan. But the next day one of their
NCOs sought
out the British officer who made the request and said they had
discussed the
matter further and would be prepared to jump under certain
conditions.
"What are they?" asked the British Officer.
"The Gurkhas Told him they would jump if the land was marshy or
reasonably
soft with no rocky outcrops, Because they were inexperienced in
falling.
The British officer considered this, and said that the dropping
areas would
almost certainly be over jungle, and there would not be rocky
outcrops, so
that seemed all right. Was there anything else?
"Yes, said the Gurkhas. They wanted the plane to fly as slowly
as possible
and no more than one hundred feet high. The British officer
pointed out the
planes always did fly as slowly as possible when dropping
troops, but to
jump from 100 feet was impossible, because the parachutes would
not open in
time from that height.
"Oh," said the Gurkhas, "that's all right, then. We'll jump
with parachutes
anywhere.
You didn't mention parachutes before!"
What would the possibilities be if any church utilized such Gurkha-like commitment and courage?
Tim Bowden, in his book One Crowded Hour about cameraman Neil
Davis, tells
about an incident that happened in Borneo during the
confrontation between
Malaysia and Indonesia in 1964.