June 18, 2009 6:23 PM

Bush Sr. Makes 85th Bday Parachute Jump

(AP)  Former President George H.W. Bush marked his 85th birthday on Friday the same way he did his 75th and 80th birthdays: He leaped from a plane and zoomed downward in freefall before parachuting safely to a spot near his Maine oceanfront home.

Bush made the tandem jump from 10,500 feet with Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott of the Army's Golden Knights, who guided them to a gentle landing on the lawn of St. Ann's Church.

"Well, we made it. It was a great day in the air," Bush said after he was removed from his harness.

He said he enjoyed it so much that he planned to do it again when he turns 90.

When he was president, Bush was an avid jogger, speed golfer, fisherman and tennis player. He said he has slowed down since then, but he doesn't intend to stop moving.

He told reporters that he jumped Friday for two reasons: to experience the exhilaration of free-falling and to show that seniors can remain active and do fun things.

"Just because you're an old guy, you don't have to sit around drooling in the corner," he said. "Get out and do something. Get out and enjoy life."

His first parachute jump came when his plane was shot down over the Pacific in 1944 during World War II. He bailed out at 1,500 feet (450 meters) after a bombing mission. His two crewmates didn't make it.

In 1997, Bush fulfilled a wartime promise he made to himself that someday he'd jump from a plane for fun by hopping out over Yuma, Arizona, and he jumped again on his 75th birthday at his library in Texas.

His days of solo parachuting ended at age 80 when bad weather forced him to scrap his plan to go alone. He made not one but two tandem jumps, both with Elliott, in Texas.

The skydiving jump marked Bush's seventh parachute leap from an airplane. His last jump was in November 2007 at the reopening of his presidential library at Texas A&M University. He made that jump unannounced after having hip replacement surgery.

Friday marked his first jump over an ocean since World War II.

Former First Lady Barbara Bush doesn't object to her octogenarian husband's fascination with skydiving.

"She is fine with it, particularly now that he does tandem jumps. She has so much trust and faith in the Golden Knights that she's fine with it," said Jean Becker, Bush's chief of staff.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 83 Comments
by 6591Hou June 15, 2009 4:16 PM EDT
It takes a cowardly petty a** to mouth off about an 85 year old WWII decorated vet, crap like jumping off cliffs and other assorted b.s., let the man have his birthday for crying out loud - I'd be willing to bet that most of us won't be doing that when we're 85.
If you don't agree with his politics just respect the fact that he was flying combat over the Pacific on behalf of his nation.
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by TPS2 June 15, 2009 8:09 AM EDT
Does that make your stomach turn or what???

HAIL OBAMA???
Posted by walt1944

No, bit your little man crush on Obama does.
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by bwlewis1964 June 15, 2009 6:48 AM EDT
He didn't invite his no#1 son Bill Clinton?
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by picklepants7 June 13, 2009 6:24 PM EDT
Iran-Contra architect needs to share a cell with Cheney for the rest of his birthdays.
Posted by kbbpll at 7:56 AM : Jun 13, 2009
+ report abuse + permalink

you are a complete moron who knows nothing about politics. you must be a dumbacrate! reading is fundamental, but you wouldn't know that, because you don't know how to read!
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by picklepants7 June 13, 2009 6:19 PM EDT
god bless one of the greatest and the most honest presidents of all time. he represented more than anyone else. the man has class and brains. unlike obama.
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by nofoolling June 13, 2009 3:04 PM EDT
Since this is one of the ringleaders in the forever war for forever profits scam/scheme, wmd, wmd, I say we send him to Leavenworth for his birthday party, and leave him there.

I wonder if he'll share some of his bloodmoney with the families of the 3/4 of a million dead men, women, and children he helped murder?
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by bigsk8fan June 13, 2009 12:11 PM EDT
george h w bush only had one term in office. dubya go two. what's up with that?

at least americans were proud of the father. almost as happy as they are to be rid of dubya!
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by mainermike June 13, 2009 10:57 AM EDT
AS I SEE IT --- Mike "Mainer Mike" Brown.

Of course he made a tandem jump, he's 85 years old!
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by kbbpll June 13, 2009 10:56 AM EDT
Iran-Contra architect needs to share a cell with Cheney for the rest of his birthdays.
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by Illuminated1 June 13, 2009 10:54 AM EDT
Tandem jumps are for sissys....

Do it solo and impress me....
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