Then, Years of Training Kicked In

Ok,so your shoes were dry. What about your pants?

Hee! No, they were fine.

My college professor told how extended family was over for Thanksgiving or something. The lid on the pressure cooker wasn’t firmly clamped on, apparently, and hit the ceiling. The Vietnam vets in the room were crawling out the door before they caught themselves.

Doing a night military parachute jump I got "Twists"the rigging lines (the stringy bits that go up to the canopy)were entangled around themselves so that the canopy wasn’t properly open which meant that I was descending rather rapidly but I felt that I had all the time in the world to sort the problem out.

Finally when I was just about to pull my reserve I span out.

I landed safely but jolly fast and jolly heavy.

And THEN unthinkingly pulled the red handle on my reserve popping it when I was picking my kit up.

One of the most embarrassing things in my life but I did’nt tell anyone for about three years that I’d pulled my reserve on the ground.

My mates said that they thought I’d left it a little late to pull watching me in the air ,they didn’t realise how late tee hee hee.