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Bush, George
(George Herbert Walker Bush, 1924.06.12-
) 41st President of the United States (1989-1993).
 Parachuted over Yuma
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| President Bush and Vice President Quayle pose
together for their official portrait, 06/08/1989. White House
Photograph Office. |
On Tuesday, March 25, 1997, former President George Bush
strapped on a parachute and jumped out of a civilian plane flying 12,500
feet above the Army's Yuma Proving Ground. After free falling for
8,000 feet, he deployed his chute and glided to a smooth landing at the
training base used by the Army's precision parachuting team, the Golden
Knights.
 The jump made Bush the only
US president to have ever jumped out of a plane. It also made
Arizona the first state in which a president has sky dived. Arizona
would have been the only state claiming this honor if Bush had not decided
to celebrate his 75th birthday with a sky dive to lawn of the George Bush
Presidential Library on the Texas A&M University campus in College
Station, Texas.
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| Early in the senior Bush's administration, the
Linden company began marketing a marvelously crafted doggie squeak
toy at stores like PetSmart. Note Vice President and Arizona
resident Dan Quayle
growing out of Bush's shoulder. 6-14. |
In making the Arizona jump, Bush fulfilled a promise that he
had made to himself 53 years earlier. On September 2, 1944, Bush's
torpedo bomber was struck by fire from the Japanese navy. The 20
year old Bush bailed out of the strickened plane, making himself the
promise that he would someday jump just for fun. He was rescued from
the Pacific Ocean by a U.S. submarine. The youngest pilot in the
navy when he received his wings, Bush was later awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross for bravery in action for this incident.
In the interest of full disclosure, the 72 year old former
president Bush had considerably more help in making his jump than did the
20 year old navy pilot Bush. The day before his jump, Bush began his
eight-hour training with the U.S. Parachute Association. During the
jump, two master parachutists held his harness until he opened his chute.
Medical personnel and Mrs. Bush stood by at the landing site.
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