Henry Rifle Forums

Sure wish I could still do this again. This is me at 12,500 feet.I started when I was a senior in high school. Some guys played football but I had better things to do.

I have done two tandem jumps, in my sixties. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Nothing like your jumps, but amazing still.

I never wanted to participate in an activity that would kill you if the equipment failed, at least willingly. I watched a skydiver auger in at an airshow in Tulsa around 1976. OTH with your military background, personal risks were a part of daily life. I thank you and appreciate you for serving. Have you read the Harry Bosch books? He was a tunnel rat and gets flashbacks, excellent reading, way better than the tv shows which are decent....

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/325 ... lack_Echo

John Davies
Spokane WA

John E Davies wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 23, 2020 10:34 am

I never wanted to participate in an activity that would kill you if the equipment failed, at least willingly. I watched a skydiver auger in at an airshow in Tulsa around 1976. OTH with your military background, personal risks were a part of daily life. I thank you and appreciate you for serving. Have you read the Harry Bosch books? He was a tunnel rat and gets flashbacks, excellent reading, way better than the tv shows which are decent....

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/325 ... lack_Echo

John Davies
Spokane WA

I would have mixed feelings about reading the book similar to watching Platoon. I don’t know why I think that.

John E Davies wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 23, 2020 10:34 am

I never wanted to participate in an activity that would kill you if the equipment failed, at least willingly. I watched a skydiver auger in at an airshow in Tulsa around 1976. OTH with your military background, personal risks were a part of daily life. I thank you and appreciate you for serving. Have you read the Harry Bosch books? He was a tunnel rat and gets flashbacks, excellent reading, way better than the tv shows which are decent....

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/325 ... lack_Echo

John Davies
Spokane WA

Thank you John, very much. No, never read that book . Yep,it didn't pay to be one of the short guys in the company. There were just three of us that had to pull that duty of searching out the tunnels, all were pretty scary and dark and pretty cramped. One I was in even had thousands of Tarantula spiders climbing all over the walls of the tunnel. I got past them somehow and my other two buddies and I captured thirteen VC when we came face to face with them. Guess they had enough of the war because they didn't even put up a fight when they were looking at our 1911's. Tunnels were usually only dug out wide and high enough to be able to crawl on your hands and knees and some opened up into large rooms that were make shift hospitals or ammo supply rooms.
My skydiving career was rather short lived compared to even some of the students I trained. After my three malfunctions and losing three of our fellow jumpers to skydiving accidents, and the fact that I was getting pretty over confident and opening much lower then I should on certain occasions during relative competition, I decided to hang it up after about 800 jumps. Besides, spending a whole weeks pay and sleeping on the drop zone and waiting for the day's jumps to begin isn't much of a life when there is so much more to do. It's an addicting sport. I am glad that my wife was able to make a tandem parachute jump from 10,500 feet though cause she still talks about it. Another jumper took a movie of her in free fall and she is smiling from ear to ear.

I am continually amazed as I learn more about the members of our forum and their stories. I Sure appreciate your service Roper and I am very thankful for our veterans. Thanks for sharing a bit, I especially enjoyed the mention of your tandem jump with your wife. Pretty cool!

I freely admit that I'm in awe of fellows who crawl into tunnels an such .... our country is truly blessed to have folks who can and will do so .... as to jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, there ain't no way

Great story Roper and if I havent told you before, Thanks for your service. My hat is off to all that have served especially the ones who served in Vietnam.

Jumping was on my bucket list... I'm sorry I never checked it off.
I jumped out of my helo in a SAR rescue, did hoist pickups, did practice high speed RIB recovery with my SEAL buddies, just for the experience. Deep water survival and helo dunker.. All a blast... And scuba in Hawaii for three years... Loved it.

I was going to take leave and go to jump school while on the east coast, (since jumping was in no way part of my mos,) but we were unexpectedly deployed and that window never opened again. After my discharge, the docs told me I couldn't take the landing. (Multiple knee surgeries, back injury). I had a great orthopedic surgeon, I followed his orders.

Always regret not going to a local club while I still could and make at least the one...

800 jumps... I tip my hat sir.

BrokenolMarine wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:42 am

Jumping was on my bucket list... I'm sorry I never checked it off.
I jumped out of my helo in a SAR rescue, did hoist pickups, did practice high speed RIB recovery with my SEAL buddies, just for the experience. Deep water survival and helo dunker.. All a blast... And scuba in Hawaii for three years... Loved it.

I was going to take leave and go to jump school while on the east coast, (since jumping was in no way part of my mos,) but we were unexpectedly deployed and that window never opened again. After my discharge, the docs told me I couldn't take the landing. (Multiple knee surgeries, back injury). I had a great orthopedic surgeon, I followed his orders.

Always regret not going to a local club while I still could and make at least the one...

800 jumps... I tip my hat sir.

Oh man, you just brought up another one of my favorite sports, scuba diving. I gladly took that sport up shortly after I quit skydiving. I just had to full fill that desire. I got quite involved with our local scuba shop in Ohio and flew to Texas to Scuba Diving instructor's school for PADI. Been to Bonaire several times and Saint Marten for diving in awesome clear waters. Went to Tobermory in Canada and dove on the ship wrecks all through their waters. Many ship wrecks lay in deep , cold ,dark waters there but what an experience. Deepest dive was at 220 feet down to a 1600's ship laying off the coast of Bonaire. The least enjoyable dives were with the Sherriff department while looking for drowned victims.
Sadly, I had to give scuba up shortly after my back surgery a few years ago. I tried to do it again but at 74 years old,I found I couldn't react well enough and can't hold my breath long in an emergency. I literally forgot everything I was taught or had taught my students and found myself one day in only 10 foot of water on a decent when I lost my regulator and couldn't retrieve it and my Octo was floating somewhere behind me. I was in zero visibility waters and my buddy couldn't see me. I darned near drowned myself trying to swim my gear to the surface. That was the last time I was wet.
Burr! just remembered that I used to do the crazy thing like ice diving too.