George Bush Sr. Goes Skydiving for his 85th Birthday

Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush celebrated his 85th birthday on June 12 by parachuting out of a plane near Kennebunkport, Maine.

This wasn’t Bush’s first skydiving experience. His first time parachuting out of a plane was as a Navy pilot when his plane was shot down over the Pacific in World War II. Other jumps Bush has made were to mark his 75th and 80th birthdays. His most recent jump was in November 2007 at the reopening of his library at Texas A & M University.

Bush’s 85th birthday jump was made in tandem with a member of the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team. A tandem jump is where a student skydiver is connected via a harness to a tandem instructor. The instructor guides the student through the whole jump.

Tandem or not, skydiving is quite afeat for anyone not accustomed to it, and certainly not a sport performed by many 85 year old men.

Happy Birthday George H. W.