97-Year-Old Vet Parachutes into Normandy for D-Day Anniversary

A 97-year-old veteran’s second parachute mission into Normandy, France was much easier than his first 75 years ago. Tom Rice was “representing a whole generation” when he took his second launch Wednesday to remember D-Day.

Rice, from San Diego, jumped nearly into the same area he first landed on in 1944 to a blaze of Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Jumping with the 101st Airborne Division, he managed to land safely but not before being struck by a bullet. Rice called his WWII jump “the worst jump I ever had.”

Rice also said his jump gave him closure “for the amount of destruction and damage that bothered him and his fellow soldiers.”

How should we honor our oldest veterans? Could you see yourself doing something as intense as parachuting in your 90s?