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Local Boy RelatesThrilling ExperiencesAs Army Parachutistaitinn«glt;hEarl Gray Is An Instructor In Southern Campir\vO]Postville’s contribution ■ to Uncle Sam’s parachutists, Ear! Gray; son of Mr. and Mrs. Keith Gray, is now an instructor with the parachute troops it Fort Benning, Ga., and in a letter to this office he ^ tells of some of the jumper’s experiences and thrills. Here is what Earl says:Dear Bill:—I’ve moved again, so thought I’d Irop a few lines to let you know my address and what we’re doing.I made my five jumps last week. We had a perfect week for jumping, the weather being nice and clear and hardly any wind. We jumped our first one at 1500 feet-and the next four at 1250 feet. I must say I was a bit uneasy when jumping. In fact, I was scared so bad the first time I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. The last four were not sobad though.Perhaps you would like to knowthe routine we go through before we jump. After we get our chute on we are inspected, both of our chutes getting the look-over. Then when that is done, we are shoved up in another line where we are inspected again , and told the order in which we are sup-osed to jump as we jump all the way rom 3 to twelve man mass, mostly welve. Then we are put in the plane nd seated in the order we are to jump. After we get up in the air and are ver the jump field, we are told to tand up and hook up. When he says, ‘Hook up,” he means the 15 foot static ine which is hooked to a cable in the fiane. It’s purpose is to pull out our ihute. Then he’ll tell us to get ready ind for the first man to stand in the loor. When he says that, you can iguve to be out in space withm 30 seconds as he’ll say, “Go by,” then. Twelve men can get out of a plane in iround 10 seconds, which is moving)lWey jump at the speed of 90 miles m hour. What I mean is that is the •ate of speed of the plane when we o out. You don't drop very far be-ow before ther parachute opens. They ell us to count, “One thousand, two housand, three. thousand,” and then f it isn't open to pull our reserve ■hute, but I never got any fuithei ban two thousand. I will say its a .vonderful feeling when you feel the;hHave0Pbeeng pretty lucky, as I was nude an instructor in' the packing de-c11dPvgInvoSC(itment. It's really a swell job asre is no drill whatever and a goodnee for advancement-^ advance-[lt in this outfit is really O. K.fell, I g«ess rd be.tt,er f.e y°u„ i would appreciate it if you ild send the Herald to this address F, Academic Bn., I. S. S. C., *prining, Ga. Yours'EARL GRAY.
Newspaper Details
Postville Herald
Postville, Iowa, US
Wed, Apr 08, 1942
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Meg B.
IA, USA 11 Aug 2020
Other Publications Near Postville, Iowa
Postville National Advocate
Postville Post
Postville Review
Postville Star
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