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VOL.37, NO.7
Thrill and camaraderie in the air
JULY 2025
I N S I D E …
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By Glenda C. Booth Jumping out of a moving airplane is a white-knuckle thrill. In three to four seconds, your parachute opens, and you start floating down. In two minutes, you’ve dropped 1,500 feet and landed on solid ground. “When the parachute opens, there’s peace and quiet. There’s no one in the air but you, and the whirr of the airplane is gone,” said Keith Kettell, a U.S. Army veteran who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and is a member of the Round Canopy Parachuting Team - USA (RCPT). Kettell, 66, and others in the group perform in air shows to educate the public about World War II paratroopers and those who followed. Like Kettell, many RCPTers are veterans who parachuted during their military careers. The organization has more than 800 U.S. members. Some jump in Normandy, France, on D-Day every June (200 last year) to honor the soldiers who on June 6, 1944, parachuted behind enemy lines from a C-47 airplane, the Tico Belle, into Nazi-occupied France. In fact, in air shows, these parachuters jump out of the actual 1942 Tico Belle.
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Adrenaline junkie
Kettell jumped for 16 of his 25 years in the Army, including six years in special operations deployments to the Middle East, Africa and Central America. Now a physician assistant, he jumps around a dozen times a year with RCPT. Why does Kettell jump out of airplanes? “I’m an adrenaline junkie,” he said. “I get a thrill, the same thrill I got in 1980, now 45 years later. I still get that little butterfly in my stomach.” In the Army, Kettell carried a parachute, reserve parachute, 70-pound rucksack, medical equipment, a weapons case, food and water. Today, with RCPT, he carries a parachute and a reserve parachute and wears a helmet, a 1942 Army uniform and brown jump boots. Kettell is also a jumpmaster, the person in charge who gives commands and scouts for the release point. When over the drop zone, the pilot turns on a green light, and Kettell yells to the team, “Green light, go!” One by one, the parachuters propel themselves out the open door.
Members of the nonprofit Round Canopy Parachuting Team jump in France every year to honor the heroism of Allied paratroopers. The group’s local members, many of whom are veterans, say they jump for the adrenaline rush and kinship with fellow parachuters.
Parachuters train to avoid landing feet first and instead make contact with the ground with five points, he explained: the balls of the feet, calf, thigh, buttocks and side. He’s landed in rivers and lakes and can float for 30 minutes with the flotation device under the harness. “I always have a backup parachute, but I’ve never used it,” Kettell said. In his 45 years, he’s had one broken ankle and a few scary moments, like two parachutes almost becoming entangled and once landing in a pine tree. This hobby is much more than jumping, Kettell says. It’s about camaraderie. Some veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder, and being with former colleagues feels safe.
Those who can’t jump help the ground team. “It gets them back in the groove. I jump so I can hang out with these guys. One week is worth six months of therapy,” Kettell said.
Support group and more
In many ways, RCPT is a “veterans’ support organization,” said parachuter Rick Randall of King George, Virginia. “I don’t hang out with these guys because we jump. I jump because I get to hang out with these guys, many from the Washington, D.C., area. I track success not by jumps, but how many veterans we save from suicide.” See PARACHUTERS, page 17
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