airtwardo 5 #1 February 2, 2015 One of my Skydiving mentors and a real life renaissance man passed yesterday...somewhat fitting on Superbowl Sunday. From my first day at the dropzone I knew I would stay in the sport if there were people like John Wayne in it. I remember practicing PLF's when a red '67 rag top Vette rolled up and that blue eyed, blond haired guy with a million dollar smile hopped out and welcomed us to Skydiving...He truly was larger than life. When he was in High School a teacher use to give him a hard time about his name...one day he'd had enough, knocked the guy out with one punch - left school that day and joined the Army. Special Forces in Vietnam was a walk in the park for John...heck everything the guy did was full bore wide open. Highly skilled demo jumper that pushed me beyond what I thought I could do both in the sport and in life. He was a pilot, he raced everything with wheels on it...a master rigger that without asking - paid for and replaced my shot and a halfs with R3's because they were safer and I was broke. He was a commercial diver for the Army Corps of Engineers...he worked on dams under water all over the Midwest, he's go skydiving to relax & do something safe on the weekends! John just released his 3rd or 4th book a month ago, just like the stories he told in person - simply captivating. It's a small number of people I met through this sport and have kept close contact with for 40 years...funny, but I knew from that first day that we would be friends for life. One of my favorite John Wayne quotes from back in the day was - "The best RW jumper in the world wouldn't amount to a pimple on the ass of a DEMO JUMPER!" Blue Skies my Brother - and like the bumper sticker in the back of "48 Bravo" said... God Bless John Wayne! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fastphil 0 #2 February 3, 2015 Sorry for your loss... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonybrogdon 0 #3 February 11, 2015 sorry for your loss Jim. What a great mentor!!Tony Brogdon D-12855 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 5 #4 February 11, 2015 tonybrogdon sorry for your loss Jim. What a great mentor!! http://wgil.com/v3/2015/02/02/wayne-john-w/ Thanks Tony, he was a heck of a guy. He was one of those people that pushed ya to be better in all things... Took me on my first demo...I had 22 jumps and was on a Papilon, went into a baseball stadium wearing smoke. His encouragement and help made it ~ and lots of what came after possible. I remember John sitting down with my dad at the dropzone not long after I started jumping...he explained what the sport was all about. How I was progressing and said he'd keep an eye on me. His kind don't come around very often...he'll be missed! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
