99-year-old veteran relives his paratrooper days with parachute jump

SUGARCREEK TOWNSHIP — Ninety-nine-year-old Jim “Pee Wee” Martin is still doing parachute jumps similar to his time in World War II.

Martin was a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division and jumped into Normandy on June 6th, 1944.

On Halloween he made a tandem jump in Palatka, Florida as part of the Round Canopy Parachute Team’s Operation Black Cat IV.

Martin said jumping out of a plane or helicopter feels no different for him now than it was when he was younger.

“See all these guys that sky dive and ride motorcycles and all that stuff, they live on adrenaline,” Martin said at his Sugarcreek Township home.

“People like me, we don’t get that adrenaline rush. We don’t have that. It’s just like picking up a lunch box and going to work.”

Pee Wee said he doesn’t feel special because he feels like he was doing what he was supposed to do, trained to do, and paid to do.

People often ask him if he was frightened when he jumped into combat for the first time but said people laugh at him when he tells them no.

“When we looked down from the plane and saw all these different caliber tracers coming up, different colors, there was really no thought of fear,” Martin said. “It was fascination.”

Pee Wee said his jump on Halloween is likely going to be his last.

While Martin said he receives more adulation than he thinks he deserves, Veterans Day carries a special meaning.

“I don’t need it but I think it’s quite wonderful after all these years that people are letting these veterans know they appreciate what they did,” Martin said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Pee Wee served as the guest Jumpmaster for the event. When he was done Martin was able to pin wings upon his son’s, Roger Martin, chest after Roger performed his 5th parachute jump to earn his RCPT-USA jump wings.

Cox Media Group