American Jim “Pee Wee” Martin was a 23-year-old paratrooper when he was dropped behind enemy lines on June 6, 1944. Reflecting on that experience, he says,
Everybody’s scared all the time. Anybody who tells you he isn’t is full of crap. But you just do what you have to do regardless of it, that’s the difference.
70 years later, he returned to Normandy to reconnect with other nonagenarians who fought alongside him and revisit the ground where he’d made history.
But Martin wasn’t content to stay on the ground. The humble veteran who’s embarrassed by the adulation people have showered on him returned to the air, donning a jumpsuit and taking one last jump from a plane.
When asked why he did it, Martin said,
A little bit of ego because I’m 93 and I can still do it. And also I just wanted to show all the people that you don’t have to sit and die just because you get old.
CNN met up with this fascinating man and filmed his jump for this brief segment that’s well worth your time…