KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Former President George H.W. Bush marked his 85th birthday Friday the same way he did his 75th and 80th birthdays: He leaped from a plane and zoomed downward at more than 100 mph in free fall before parachuting safely to a spot near his oceanfront home.
Bush made the tandem jump from 10,500 feet with Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott of the Army’s Golden Knights, who guided them to a gentle landing on the lawn of St. Ann’s Church.
“It’s a great, exhilarating feeling,” he said after he was removed from his harness. “I don’t feel a day over 84.”
He said he enjoyed the jump so much that he planned to do it again when he turns 90.
He told reporters that he jumped Friday for two reasons: to experience the exhilaration of free-falling and to show that seniors can remain active and do fun things.
“Just because you’re an old guy, you don’t have to sit around drooling in the corner,” Bush said. “Get out and do something. Get out and enjoy life.”
