LISTEN: WW2 Airborne Vet To Skydive for 98th Birthday

PALATKA -- A veteran of World War Two plans to take part in a tandem skydive to celebrate turning 98 years old.

Vince Speranza and his tandem partner, Art Shaffer of Skydive Palatka, will jump from the "Tico Belle", a WW2-era C-47 aircraft that was part of the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The jump is set for Saturday afternoon (25th). Speranza will also be the featured speaker at an event that evening, followed by a fireworks show.

Speranza saw action in Bastogne during the war. He's memorialized in the TV series "Band of Brothers" as the soldier who found beer and carried it to a friend who was laid up in an Army field hospital. Shaffer says Speranza "likes to smoke, drink bourbon and whiskey, and make a skydive here and there."

Speranza's jump is part of a bigger event in which more than a hundred parachutists will rehearse for a commemoration of the Normandy landings planned in France this June. They'll be jumping with round canopy parachutes, the type used by WW2-era paratroopers who led the way for the D-Day invasion and the liberation of France. More than 30 students will be training from the Tico Belle during the week leading up to Saturday, to earn their jump wings. The skydivers will also jump from the C-47, known as the "Tico Belle," which was used during the Normandy invasion. Events are scheduled through Sunday.

It's run by the Round Canopy Parachuting Team - USA, a nonprofit that promotes skydiving to encourage camaraderie among veterans of all wars and prevent veteran suicides. The group has also taken part in commemorating another significant campaign in World War Two, "Operation Market Garden" in the Netherlands.

Listen to an interview with Art Shaffer below:

Photo: Getty Images


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content