George Bush Senior

[BarryBobPosthole]

Today is his 90th brithday, Happy Birthday Mr President! He's also going to do a parachute jump from a helicopter. Not many 90 year olds doing that!

Man I hope I have that much love for life at 90.

BKB

http://newsok.com/90-year-old-ex-president-to-make-parachute-jump/article/feed/698672

[Thumper]

That's cool. I'd LOVE to get back into sky diving ... but you have to arch your back during free-fall and mine will no longer bend that way. I have to assume he's doing a tandem jump since there will be a Golden Knight going with him ... so he doesn't have to get all that physical.

I had the pleasure of jumping with the Golden Knights at a small airfield outside of Atlanta once. They were training to tandem jump with handicapped people as a part of the Special Olympics when the event was held up there. What a great group of guys and it was a real privilege to be able to jump with them.

[Bwana]

So Jim, what you are saying is that you fit the bill as a stand in for a mentally and physically handicapped person?

The past president doing a helicopter jump, now that is WAY cool! Take that Putinny.

[Thumper]

Ha ha! Nope. They were practicing tandem jumps. I was jumping by myself alongside them. The most fun was hanging around the hangar b/s'ing as we repacked our chutes, etc. It was during the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. My biggest honor was meeting, hanging out and jumping with Dana Bowman! He was a Golden Knight (ex-Army SF) who lost both his legs when he collided with one of his teammates (who was killed) a couple years prior. He continued to jump with the GK's after rehab and it was his inspiration that contributed to the skydiving portion of the Special Olympics. He was there to prove that handicapped individuals could still enjoy the sport. I have pics around here someplace (no idea where) of us hanging out together. He's one heck of a nice guy and had me in stitches the whole time.

The funniest thing I remember was, there was a news crew there from a local tv station in Atlanta to do a story on the upcoming Special Olympics. There was a super hot blonde reporter who did an interview with Dana. They started out with a bunch of picture taking and this blonde was TALL. As she stood with Dana for photos, he looked UP at her and said, "Hold on just one minute." He then sat on the floor, started "unscrewing" his "feet" and making a few adjustments. When he stood back up, he was TALLER than the blonde reporter! It was hilarious and just another example of his great sense of humor. It was a true honor getting to know him.

Here's his story if anyone is interested: http://www.accesstravelcenter.com/db_art.html

[Captain]

A true American leader. Sure wish we had him back!
Happy birthday Mr. President

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