Chapter 3: Operation Just Cause

The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, was the operation initiated by the United States that deposed general, dictator, and de facto Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega in December 1989. One of the guys had a poster with a picture of Noriega with a banner below it that said, "Cara de Piña," or "Pineapple Face." Noriega had such a pitted face that he looked like a pineapple with all the points sticking out.

My attitude had changed a lot about the Army. I had actually started to like it. When I arrived they were just forming a new battalion, the 2nd of the 504. The second became famous in the Second World War when a German officer was killed at Anzio found with this written in his diary:

"American parachutists—devils in baggy pants—are less than 100 meters from my outpost line. I can't sleep at night; they pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems like the black-hearted devils are everywhere..."

These paratroopers were part of the 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. It was reorganized in 1957 and later the Second Brigade was reformed as the Second Battalion. I got there just as it formed and eleven months to the day after I was sworn in I was promoted to Spec 4 (Specialist Fourth Class).

After I finished jump school I went one Saturday with a buddy into Fayetteville. He was going to the USO—I didn't really want to go but he dragged me along. It was the one and only time I ever went there but it was enough. It was there I met Jenny Wilson. Her mom was in charge of volunteers and Jenny rarely went but she was there that day. It took me less than three months to convert Jenny Wilson into Jenny Johnson—and being in the Army I felt that was a promotion for her.

It seemed that jumping out of planes had done a lot for my self-confidence in that I showed a new ease around women. What I remember most about Jenny at that time is that she was a sweet girl. Not sugar sweet but just a nice caring, thoughtful person. The word that comes to mind is empathy. She had the ability—no, the gift—of seeing things from the other person's viewpoint.

She was slightly plump and cute in the girl next-door sort of way. Shortly after we were married we started jogging together. I'd been on the track and cross-country teams at Cherry Creek in Denver but suddenly found I was putting on a couple of pounds I didn't want. I got down to the weight I wanted and Jenny lost the residual baby fat that young girls sometimes keep into their twenties.

About a year after I married Jenny, I saw my first combat. I saved from a local paper one of the sidebar articles that described the purpose of Operation Just Cause.

On December 20, 1989, the 504th was sent into battle as part of Operation Just Cause. The intent of this operation was to protect U.S. civilians in Panama, secure key facilities, and neutralize both the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) and the "Dignity Battalions," and restore the elected government of Panama by ousting General Manuel Noriega.

The 3rd Battalion conducted air and sea assaults in northern and central Panama to seize the dam that controlled the water in the Panama canal, a prison, several police stations, several key bridges, a PDF supply point, the PDF demolitions school and an intelligence training facility. These operations were designed to neutralize the PDF while protecting U.S. nationals and the canal itself during the first few hours of the battle.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th, along with 4th Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, conducted a parachute assault on the Omar Torrijos International Airport. Following the airborne assault, the paratroopers soon found themselves engaged in fierce combat in urban and rural areas. As a testament to the discipline of the soldiers, however, the unit achieved all key objectives while causing only minimal collateral damage.