After basic at Toccoa came jump training at Fort Benning.

The pilots at Fort Benning had a pet bulldog…sort of a mascot. They told us that when the paratroopers in training would be floating down from the sky he would be running around in circles wagging his tail furiously and barking up a storm. Upon landing, he would go running up to the closest paratrooper for a scratch behind the ears.

The pilots started to take the dog up during training jumps…and had a dickens of a time keeping him from following the men out the door of the plane! Then someone came up with the idea of creating a dog sized parachute, complete with static line. On the training jumps, the pilots would hook up the dog’s static line…wait for the jumpers to leave the plane, then let him go. The dog would go careening toward the door at the back of the plane, skid to a stop, turn, “peel out”, get traction, and sail out the door.

Dad tells of seeing the dog barking and wagging all the way to the ground…then running up to the closest paratrooper for his usual scratch.

It is a story that is better told by Dad in person…and if you get the chance to meet Dad in person…it is worth asking him to tell it.