# Geronimo **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 8, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642 "2008-07-08T02:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/1 "2008-07-08T02:34:00Z")
[Geronimo](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_146.html): > [@](#): > > The custom of yelling “Geronimo!” is attributed to Aubrey Eberhardt, a member of the U.S. Army’s parachute “test platoon” that demonstrated the feasibility of parachute troop drops at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1940. The first US military jump seems to have been in August 1940, so this demonstration of feasibility was a little redundant: German Fallschirmjäger units made the first airborne invasion when invading Denmark on April 9 1940, and other militaries had been experimenting with them for years, starting with the Italians in 1927. * * * NOTE: Thread is from July 2008, until revived in Post #7 in March 2014. – CKDH ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/2 "2008-07-08T03:46:38Z")
I did not know that! I remember a comedy - mebbe one of the _Hot Shots!_ flicks? - in which several paratroopers jump out of a plane shouting, “Geronimo!”, followed by an Indian in full feathered regalia who shouts, “Me!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/3 "2008-07-08T04:06:31Z")
‘I don’t wanna goooooooooo!’ ‘What did he say?’ ‘Erm… “Geronimo”, sir!’ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/4 "2008-07-08T12:06:39Z")
1.) Of course, not everyone yells “Geronimo!” I was a bit surprised, as a kid, to find a book entitled “Currahee!” by Donald R. Burgett, who was a Brit, and , of course, that’s what they yelled. No reason for them to shout the name of an American Indian: > **[Currahee: Burgett, Donald R.: 9780345220479: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Currahee-Donald-R-Burgett/dp/0345220471)** > > Currahee \[Burgett, Donald R.\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Currahee (Although, curiously, when I look up the meaning of “CUrrahee”, it’s supposed to be an Indian word. Weird: [http://www.blackfive.net/main/2005/10/currahee\_we\_sta.html](http://www.blackfive.net/main/2005/10/currahee_we_sta.html) ) 2.) Geronimo always struck me as an odd name for an American Indian, especially after I learned that it was a traditional Spanish name, a form of _Jerome_. The Apache warrior was really named **Goyaale**. The Mexicansd gave him the nickname, supposedly because of Mexican’s pleas to St. Jerome, but I’ll bet also because of a rough similarity of names. 3.) The Wkipedia page on Geronimo gives a better reason for the use of the name after soldiers had seen the 1939 film **Geronimo** : > [@](#): > > The 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment’s motto and slogan was named after him. In 1940, the night before their first mass jump, U.S. paratroopers at Fort Benning watched the film Geronimo (1939 film), in which the actor playing Geronimo yells his name as he leaps from a high cliff into a river, depicting a real-life escape Geronimo successfully attempted in which with his Cadillac horse, he jumped off Medicine Bluff at Fort Sill, Oklahoma into the Medicine Creek. Private Aubrey Eberhardt announced he would shout the name when he jumped from the airplane to prove he was not scared. The trend has since caught on elsewhere, becoming widely associated with any sort of high jump in popular culture. This unit was the first parachute battalion of the U.S. Army.[ One of the references given for this paragraph is the Straight Dope column this thread is commenting on. > **[Geronimo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo)** > > Geronimo's chronology > Gerónimo (Mescalero-Chiricahua: Goyaałé, lit. 'the one who yawns', \[kòjàːɬɛ́\]; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands – the Tchihende, the Tsokanende (called Chiricahua by Americans) and the Nednhi – to carry out numerous raids, as well as fight against Mexican and U.S. military campaigns in the nor... ---
**Author:** ![MoonDogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@MoonDogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonDogg)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/5 "2008-07-09T15:35:23Z")
The custom of yelling Geronimo goes back to the Army’s connections with Geronimo himself. He was imprisoned at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma for several years in the basement of a block house that still exists there. If you visit it, you can see the stone floor where he paced back and forth, actually wearing ruts into the quartz stone! One day, he finally broke free of his prison, jumped on a horse and rode up a long, sloping hill. On the other side of the hill is a 400 foot bluff (Medicine Bluff), at the bottom of which is Medicine Creek. He was being pursued by cavalrymen and was not about to return to captivity, so he rode over the edge of the bluff into the creek. He survived until the next morning, but the horse died at the bottom. He is buried at Ft. Sill in an Indian cemetery. Medicine bluff has been used for years to train soldiers how to rappel. In order to avoid the wrath of Geronimo, who met his end there - it is traditional to shout his name out before proceeding down the rope. I failed to do this myself and tore my ankle up pretty bad. The tradition carried over to any situation where soldiers are required to jump into the unknown. It is an homage to all fallen warriors. MoonDogg ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/6 "2008-07-10T03:08:32Z")
[QUOTE=MoonDogg] One day, he finally broke free of his prison, jumped on a horse and rode up a long, sloping hill. On the other side of the hill is a 400 foot bluff (Medicine Bluff), at the bottom of which is Medicine Creek. He was being pursued by cavalrymen and was not about to return to captivity, so he rode over the edge of the bluff into the creek. He survived until the next morning, but the horse died at the bottom. He is buried at Ft. Sill in an Indian cemetery. [/QUOTE] Geronimo died of pneumonia in 1909 at the age of 79. ---
**Author:** ![pplepic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@pplepic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pplepic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/7 "2014-03-10T18:12:15Z")
Having visited the grave of Geronimo on a cliff near Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, I was told that when the cavalry had him cornered at the edge of the cliff, he urged his horse over and they fell to what was supposed to be a noble death. However, Geronimo survived the fall. I’m not sure about his trusty steed. I personally like this version and it sounds reasonable too. Oh hell! I think my chute’s caught in the rigging. Geronimo! ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/8 "2014-03-11T18:12:13Z")
> [@pplepic](#): > > Having visited the grave of Geronimo on a cliff near Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, I was told that when the cavalry had him cornered at the edge of the cliff, he urged his horse over and they fell to what was supposed to be a noble death. However, Geronimo survived the fall. I’m not sure about his trusty steed. I personally like this version and it sounds reasonable too. Oh hell! I think my chute’s caught in the rigging. Geronimo! You might want to read up a few posts. The scene you describe is apparently in the movie, so both explanations hold water. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/9 "2014-03-11T19:37:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Geronimo died of pneumonia in 1909 at the age of 79. Another good story spoiled by the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642/10 "2014-03-16T15:00:48Z")
My first thought was the Medicine Bluff jump figured into the paratrooper’s decision in some manner. Sure, they just watched the movie, but what happened in the movie? The protagonist survived a 400 ft jump off a cliff. He survived, but the horse didn’t. Horse: the _first_ airbag.