Gurkha Courage

Topics: Courage, Commitment

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.

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 auld
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!"

Any church could use such Gurkha-like commitment and courage.

Craig Brian Larson, Illustrations For Preaching and Teaching, Grand Rapids:
Baker Books, 1993, p. 36