Spotlight!
Airmen, allies pay tribute with ‘Jutba Drop’ during Operation Christmas Drop 24
By
374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs December 15, 2024
Master Sgt. Nathan Allen
374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs December 15, 2024
(Photo by Master Sgt. Nathan Allen)
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Anthony Gonzalez, a loadmaster with the 36th Airlift Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan, stands during a flight honoring U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jeremy Jutba - an Airman who passed away during Operation Christmas Drop in 2015, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, December 12, 2024. The tradition of OCD began during the Christmas season in 1952 when a B-29 Superfortress aircrew saw islanders waving at them from the island of Kapingamarangi, 3,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. In the spirit of Christmas, the aircrew dropped a bundle of supplies attached to a parachute to the islanders below, giving the operation its name.