Dear Lanny,

When my husband Lanny was relatively new to flying, and stationed in Alaska, he was “low man on the totem pole” and had to fly for the parachute club on Saturdays. During one of these flights where several personnel jumped out of the aircraft, one of them landed in a small lake instead of the intended landing spot. He noticed the female jumper had landed in the lake and proceeded to descend rapidly. The rescue personnel on the bank of the lake tried swimming out to her but the water was so cold they had to turn around after less than 20 ft. While this is not exactly an approved maneuver, he hovered the helicopter out over the lake and up to the person. Then the crew chief in the back opened the door and reached down to the water and hooked her parachute on the skid. They pulled her to shore where ground personnel took over She looked terrible, blue, etc. He remembers thinking OMG she’s dead. They flew her to the hospital which was 5 min away. She survived. He is my HERO!

You are my Hero!

Martha