Butch Garner
Jumping from that perfectly good AC, as the saying goes, started for me at Benning, 1964, when the AC of the day was the C-119 Flying Boxcar. Getting transferred to the 82nd at Ft. Bragg upon graduation from jump school was my springboard into the world of professional parachuting. I thrived in the Division environment; ultimately obtaining my master JM rating.
Now that I’ve entered the twilight years of my jump career (a career that has spanned 53 years) I have to reflect on my transition from the humble 119s to jumps from a wide variety of AC ( fixed wing, rotary; jets), jump opportunities with over 33foreign militaries (both NATO and Eastern Bloc); and I realize that the Airborne brotherhood is the most unique fraternity in the world. And LJT is the perfect embodiment of the paradigm for perpetuating that brotherhood!
I’m proud to be a part of that paradigm and proud of the membership that makes up that paradigm.