Tag Archives: C-130

Santa Jumps with the Marines to Honor Toys for Tots

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Parachutes? Check. Dress Blues? Check. C-130? Check. Santa Claus? Oh, you know that’s a check.

High over Camp Shelby, Mississippi earlier this month, Marines of the 3rd Reconnaissance Company and the Marine Forces Reserves climbed in the back of a perfectly good C-130 Hercules and bailed out as part of Operation Santa Drop. The event saluted both the 75th anniversary of the Marine Corps Reserve’s long-running Toys for Tots program and the Corps’ 247th birthday on Nov. 10, 2022. Because of this, the uniform of the day was Marines Dress Blues and one regulation Kringle Suit.

(Photos: 2nd Lt. Desmond Jones/U.S. Army National Guard)

(Photos: 2nd Lt. Desmond Jones/U.S. Army National Guard)

The drop is in honor of the 75-year national Toys for Tots charitable program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, “which provides happiness and hope to less fortunate children during each Christmas holiday season. The toys, books, and other gifts collected and distributed by the Marines offer these children recognition and a positive memory for a lifetime.” (Photo: Chris Eger)

“To this day, the Toys for Tots program, which includes about 147 of your Marine Forces Reserve units, has helped support and bring a smile to the precious lives of 272 million children,” said Retired Lt. Gen. James Laster, Toys for Tots Foundation president and CEO.

Sea-130

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I promised myself I would never go back to Jordan, and then I see this,
via the Sea Breeze Dive Club:

“Aqaba’s newest dive site is the C130-Hercules plane wreck. After serving its time in the Jordanian Air Force, the retired Lockheed C130 Hercules military aircraft was laid in its final resting place on 16 November 2017, to become an artificial reef in the Gulf of Aqaba.

The C130-Hercules is 112 ft (34 m) long plane with a wingspan of 132 ft (40 m). Before sinking it, all the fuel, paint and hazardous materials from the aircraft were removed.

The plane now sits about 300 meters from shore, in a depth at around 15 meters, making it easily accessible to divers and visible to snorkelers and from glass-bottom boats as well.”