93-year-old Doug Gross, professor emeritus and a World War ll veteran, parachuted for the first time on Nov. 11, 2017. His timing was perfect for Veteran’s Day.
Doug Gross planned to become a paratrooper in 1942 when he answered the nation’s call during World War II, but the U.S. Army had other plans for him.
Gross would serve as an artilleryman and later have a successful career as a NC State agricultural professor, but he never forget his dream to jump out of an airplane. So 75 years after enlisting, the 93-year-old combat veteran marked Veterans Day on Saturday by making his first skydive 13,000 feet above Triangle North Executive Airport in Louisburg.
Read the story by T. Keung Hui of the Raleigh News & Observer: