My dad turned 70 on May 1. He was 101st Airborne when he was in the Army back in the 60's during the Vietnam war. His unit never deployed, but he said they were on the bus a few times, but for some reason never actually went over.
Anyway, what do you get a paratrooper for a big birthday? A trip to go skydiving of course.
Well, my brother, also an Army/MO National Guard guy, said he's not going to go and just watch dad have all the fun. He was going to jump too.
I couldn't just let that stand, so I said I'd go too. My wife thinks I was crazy, but also knew that if I didn't make it, she'd be a wealthy woman. She made me check to make sure my life insurance policy would still pay out in the case of death by doing something dangerous.
It was a blast. I was a lot less nervous than I thought I'd be. Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was because I'd seen my dad and my brother already land safely. Maybe I'm just that kind of a guy.
We jumped with Fly Free Skydiving down in Festus. Great group of people who run the place. Larry, the tandem jump guide, was great. I would highly recommend them if you too want to fall like rock at terminal velocity for about 35 seconds.
Glad to be back on the ground, but I'm also happy that I got to share that experience with my dad!
Anyway, what do you get a paratrooper for a big birthday? A trip to go skydiving of course.
Well, my brother, also an Army/MO National Guard guy, said he's not going to go and just watch dad have all the fun. He was going to jump too.
I couldn't just let that stand, so I said I'd go too. My wife thinks I was crazy, but also knew that if I didn't make it, she'd be a wealthy woman. She made me check to make sure my life insurance policy would still pay out in the case of death by doing something dangerous.
It was a blast. I was a lot less nervous than I thought I'd be. Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was because I'd seen my dad and my brother already land safely. Maybe I'm just that kind of a guy.
We jumped with Fly Free Skydiving down in Festus. Great group of people who run the place. Larry, the tandem jump guide, was great. I would highly recommend them if you too want to fall like rock at terminal velocity for about 35 seconds.
Glad to be back on the ground, but I'm also happy that I got to share that experience with my dad!