Motto
See also: Geronimo (exclamation)The unit's motto is "Geronimo," a phrase that has become synonymous with paratroopers and parachutists in general.
The motto dates from 1940 and the lead up to World War II. The night before their first attempt to prove the feasibility of a mass jump, some U.S. paratroopers at Fort Benning watched the film Geronimo (1939). While drinking with fellow paratroopers after the show, Private Aubrey Eberhardt announced he would shout the name "Geronimo" when he jumped to prove he was not scared. He followed through with his promise and the practice soon caught on within the unit, becoming its unofficial motto. When the 501st was created the name was confirmed as the unit's official motto with the permission of the real Geronimo's family.
Read more about this topic: 501st Infantry Regiment (United States)
Famous quotes containing the word motto:
“My motto is: “Lord I disbelieve—help thou my unbelief.””
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“Ex oriente lux may still be the motto of scholars, for the Western world has not yet derived from the East all the light which it is destined to receive thence.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)