Korean War vet, 90, skydives in honor of late wife: ‘Talked to me all the way down’
She still makes him feel like he can fly.
A 90-year-old Korean War vet from New Hampshire celebrated his anniversary with his late wife Sunday by leaping out of a plane — and he said she “talked” to him all the way down.
Bill Rogers, of Manchester, said he knows what his wife, Natalie, would have said to him if she were still around to watch his jaw-dropping stunt.
“Every time I jump out of a plane, I can hear her say, ‘Billy, you’re as crazy as ever,’” Rogers said as he prepped for the jump at Skydive Pepperell in Pepperell, Massachusetts, according to WCVB 5 in Boston.
Rogers’ caught-on-camera jump is as thrilling as it is terrifying. The white-haired senior crossed his arms, the blue straps that tied him to his skydiving instructor pulling taut as he yelled, “Let’s go!”
Then the pair careened out the door — as Rogers raised a tattooed forearm to give a thumbs-up on the way down.
“I love it!” Rogers yelled.
He and his wife first met about 70 years ago, he told the station.
“When I first saw her, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her,” Rogers said. “I asked her to walk with me. She agreed. We held hands, we looked at each other, and we both knew then it was going to be forever.”
They wrote letters to each other when he was a spry 17-year-old serving in the Korean War, he said — it was the only way to endure a difficult year apart.
“People said, ‘You’re crazy; you don’t know what love is about,’” he continued. “Well, 70 years later, I was still holding her hand when she passed away.”
“She was just an amazing human, I loved her, more than life — still do.”
Natalie died about seven years ago, the station said.
Rogers — who has jumped five times before — said this particular leap is about more than just getting some thrills. It’s about celebrating every moment.
He was thinking of his Natalie the whole time.
“My wife talked to me all the way down!” the old romantic said. “She said, ‘I’ve got you in my arms.’”