howardhodges

I was Mike's roomie for a while when he was on the Army Parachute Team. However, I was the Public Affairs guy and one of the announcers -- I only jumped enough to get Army jump pay (most of my skydiving, the little there was, was either at Raeford or at Luke's Flying Service, Goose Creek, SC -- a scary airport/dz to this 'whuffo' [ringed by telephone wires if I recall]. However, other than some funny Mike stories, there isn't a whole lot about his skydiving that I can pass on, except this (all 2nd hand) and thus UNconfirmed: Since this is an open forum -- which except for the Mike postings, I wouldn't be here: I heard from another teammate that AFTER Mike left the Team, that he had ALLEGEDLY gotten banned by USPA for jumping off El Capitan. Supposedly, he wore a "Banned by the USPA" hat according to this same source, as a joke, at one party. I wouldn't put it past Mike n' his wry sense of humor, and I do know that he jumped El Capitan (perhaps w/o authorization?) I saw the error about his dying from cliff (base) jumping: not true. Although another Teammate told me he was there at Mike's accident and what others have related at this website fits with what he told me, I'm going to check with USPA, since the director now was his commander at the time. If someone knows how I can get hold of his mom or sister, Denise, who i was close to, I'd love to hear from them (or if you get a copy of the story of his death from Parachutist or SKYDIVE, let me know.) I do know that someone from his high school is trying to post a write-up on Mike Steele for an upcoming reunion and their newsletter. They want to honor him & others they have lost. That person -- who I only know thru his inquiry to the USAPT alumni net -- is: [email protected] Howard Hodges, [email protected] cell: 410.370.6916