For most people, a summer trip to France is a chance to relax in beautiful surroundings and to savor the country's fine food. For Tom Rice of San Diego, it's an opportunity to relive the time he nearly died jumping from a C-47 Douglas airplane, then was shot at, again and again.
Despite being 97, Rice climbed once more into the bone-rattling fuselage of a C-47 and, while flying over the Normandy fields where he first saw action in 1944, leaped into the unknown.
Those on the ground watched the anxiety-inducing descent as, strapped to another parachutist dangling beneath a stars and stripes canopy, the old man coasted through the sky, another gigantic American flag billowing out behind him.
Reaching the ground with only a slight stumble on impact, Rice proudly gave V for victory signs with his hands and, wearing a 101st Airborne baseball cap, said he felt "great" and was ready to "go back up and do it again."
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3 comments:
It's sad that gentlemen like this have to witness today's liberal ignorance and the constant onslaught of destroying this country!! Mandatory two year military enlistment
I agree to the 2 years, but all kinds of things need doing. Not all are qualified for the military. It sure would be one way to secure the southern border.
The V for victory is incorrect for that hand sign. It actually comes from English Longbowman who when captured used to have their index and middle fingers removed to prevent them from returning to war. As a sign of disrespect and defiance on the battlefield they would show those two fingers as to highlight they were still ready and able to kill.
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