Chipstcharles

I wish I could, but the Army says no. I'm in flight school and on a short leash. But know that I will be thinking about it.

I can't believe this. I ran into a buddy that served in the 82nd with Raff and I and he was told that this had happened and passed it along to me. I remember the day Raff showed up to the unit, I was working in Operations and asked for his jump log to put on file; he hands me a book, I laugh and ask for the real one. I then learned that he was a Knight and told him that I had always wanted to try skydiving. A week later he told me that if I still wanted to try it, he had set it up for me and a couple of other guys in the company to start AFF. We met at his house where he gave us the ground class and then took us out to Laurinburg DZ and hooked us up with Ellen and Sam. It took me a while to get through AFF due to weather and training, but anytime we could squeeze a jump in, Raff was ready to go. He stuck with me and made a point to do my graduation jump and drink a few with me in the bar after the sunset jump. One of the things Raff taught me has stuck with me and I apply it to everything I do. He told me that one of the most important parts of skydiving was looking good doing it. =) Raff always had a way of making you laugh or put you at ease when you're nervous. It was this quality that drew everyone to him, I believe. Raff was definitely one of the special ones. He always displayed the utmost professionalism and courtesy to everyone and everything he did. It is obvious by the forums here that he touched everyone who met him, not to mention the enormous contributions he made to the sport. I only wish I could have seen him one last time. I lost contact with Raff when I left Bragg and he went to GA. Every now and then I would call and get his machine, I am sure he was at the drop zone. I just figured I would talk to him later or make a trip to NC and visit PK. This should be an example for everyone not to take friends for granted. Make the extra effort to see and talk to them because you never know when you will no longer have the chance.