A dead US Paratrooper of the 17th Airborne Division suspended from his parachute in a tree near Wesel, Germany during Operation Varsity – March 24, 1945 [1080×914]
A dead US Paratrooper of the 17th Airborne Division suspended from his parachute in a tree near Wesel, Germany during Operation Varsity – March 24, 1945 [1080×914]
The 17th Airborne Division suffered around 1,300 casualties, with 430 killed; and the British 6th Airborne Division suffered around 1,400 casualties.
US Army Signal Corps photo
countryfresh223 on
Never seen this photo before
StTimmerIV on
I always thought shooting a parachutist was a war crime, but i was wrong…
> Attacks on parachutists, as defined by the law of war, occur when pilots, aircrew, and passengers are attacked while descending by parachute from disabled aircraft during wartime. Such parachutists are considered hors de combat and it is made a war crime to attack them in an interstate armed conflict under Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. However, firing on airborne forces who are descending by parachute (i.e. paratroopers) is not prohibited.
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The 17th Airborne Division suffered around 1,300 casualties, with 430 killed; and the British 6th Airborne Division suffered around 1,400 casualties.
US Army Signal Corps photo
Never seen this photo before
I always thought shooting a parachutist was a war crime, but i was wrong…
> Attacks on parachutists, as defined by the law of war, occur when pilots, aircrew, and passengers are attacked while descending by parachute from disabled aircraft during wartime. Such parachutists are considered hors de combat and it is made a war crime to attack them in an interstate armed conflict under Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. However, firing on airborne forces who are descending by parachute (i.e. paratroopers) is not prohibited.
[source](https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/api-1977)
So wild that someone would be like, I should take a picture of that.
There’s a scene in _Band of Brothers_ that shows a dead, suspended jumper just like this.