Friday, May 21, 2004 | 9:55 a.m.
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Three World War II veterans, including a Las Vegas man, each performed two parachute jumps to qualify to jump next month over Normandy, France, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
The trio has received permission from the mayor of Saint-Mere-Eglise, Normandy, to parachute on June 7, but they have not received clearance from the U.S. Army Europe to jump during official ceremonies on June 5 and 6.
Richard "Red" Falvey, 83; Richard Mandich, 79; and Dick Case, 83, were members of the 101st Airborne Division and jumped during WWII.
Mandich of San Diego and Case of Las Vegas successfully completed the two jumps in California on Wednesday, but Falvey injured his left shoulder on the second jump.
"It's just a dislocation and that doesn't amount to a hill of beans," said Falvey, of Hammondsport, N.Y., adding that he still wants to do the Normandy jump.
In addition to making the qualifying jumps, all three men, and two other veterans in other parts of the country, must receive medical clearance and sign a waiver of liability to make the jump. But they also need President Bush to override the Army's rejection of their request to jump.
The three silver-haired veterans hope to get the presidential permission because they want to honor their World War II comrades, especially those who never made it home.
"(D-Day) was a very important date," said Case, noting that if the Normandy invasion had failed, Nazi Germany probably would have won the war.
"Had it not succeeded it would be a different world today," Case said. "All these guys that gave their lives, I'd like them remembered."
As of this morning, however, the men still had not obtained U.S. government permission to make the jump, said Kevin Curry, spokesman for the World War II 60th Anniversary Commemoration Committee.
"I couldn't say if the practice jump would make a difference," Curry said. Curry emphasized that committee "respects their enthusiasm and patriotism" and their service during the war but "the main thing behind this is their safety."
"The veterans are the VIPs here, this whole thing is for them," Curry said."The matter is an issue of concern for their safety and for those on the ground as well."
Curry said jumping out of an airplane is not an exact science. It requires the ability to act to a changing situation quickly.
"I'm not a doctor but I think it is safe to say the older you get the harder it is to respond," Curry said.
He said the committee wants the veterans there and they can march with the active-duty soldiers after the active duty soldiers jump. Perhaps the retirees can give something to the active duty soldiers to carry for them during the jump -- some kind of memento, Curry suggested.
Sun reporter
Suzanne Struglinski and the Associated Press contributed to the report.
archive
