D-Day vet from Va. Beach checks off 'bucket list' goal

SUFFOLK

The last time Norwood Thomas jumped out of an airplane, he was fighting the Nazis.

It was June 6, 1944, better known as D-Day. His unit parachuted into Normandy, France, and helped to clear the shoreline as the Allied forces began their invasion.

On Sunday, Thomas, 88, took to the skies once again. He donned another parachute, climbed in a plane - and went skydiving in Suffolk.

"It's just one of the things that's on my bucket list," he said.

That was news to his daughter.

"This is the first time I've found out he has a bucket list," said Vicki Thomas Frango of Chesapeake. "I'm afraid to find out what else is on it."

Thomas, a Virginia Beach resident, was in the Army during World War II.

After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he joined the 101st Airborne Division, also known as the Screaming Eagles. He was one of the first Americans at the Normandy invasion and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

Despite his experience, he made a tandem jump Sunday, strapped to an expert sky diver instead of going it alone.

It's safer that way, he said.

On D-Day, he jumped from 700 feet, and a static line from the airplane ensured Thomas' parachute opened.

On Sunday, he made a free-fall jump from 13,500 feet, said his son, Steven Thomas.

"It's going to be higher, colder and nobody's going to be shooting at him," Steven said.

Thomas wore an Army jacket, a replica of the one he wore in 1944. In his pockets he carried a piece of his original parachute and a swastika, ripped from a Nazi flag he found in Europe.

He wasn't the only veteran jumping. Carl Adkins, 90, who trained pilots to fly B-17 bombers during World War II, also took the plunge.

"I'm looking forward to it," Adkins said. "I'm not apprehensive, like my wife is."

Ashley Smith with Skydive Suffolk said it's not unusual for older crowds to sky-dive. The company even offers a senior discount.

After watching a safety video, the jumpers suited up.

"Let me say this: Our chute's going to land a lot nicer than yours did," said tandem jumper Don Jaget, tightening a harness around Thomas' shoulders.

Thomas climbed in the plane, and, 20 minutes later, his red, white and blue parachute opened in the sky. Circling the field, he floated slowly downward before planting his feet on the ground.

It was a thrill, but nothing like Normandy, he said.

"There, I had all the controls. Here, I was just along for the ride," he said. "That was awesome. Let's do it again."

Elisabeth Hulette, (757) 222-5216, elisabeth.hulette@pilotonline.com