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McGovern to parachute on 88th birthday
TITUSVILLE, Fla., As a combat pilot in World War II, George McGovern never had to bail out, but he'll do that on his 88th birthday, the former U.S. presidential candidate says.
The longtime South Dakota senator and part-time Florida resident will make a tandem parachute jump Monday at a skydiving center in Titusville, Fla., Florida Today reported.
McGovern said: "Facing combat in an airplane is 10 times scarier than anything that goes on with a parachute jump -- provided you remember to pull the ripcord," the newspaper reported Saturday.
"Old guys don't want to be put on the shelf," he said. "We're still interested in ventures of various types."
Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, also a World War II pilot, made parachute jumps on his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays.
McGovern said he sees this as the perfect bipartisan birthday celebration.
"I'll tell you," he said, "when you're in combat, it's bipartisan -- nobody cares if you're a Democrat or a Republican or a kangaroo."
TITUSVILLE, Fla., As a combat pilot in World War II, George McGovern never had to bail out, but he'll do that on his 88th birthday, the former U.S. presidential candidate says.
The longtime South Dakota senator and part-time Florida resident will make a tandem parachute jump Monday at a skydiving center in Titusville, Fla., Florida Today reported.
McGovern said: "Facing combat in an airplane is 10 times scarier than anything that goes on with a parachute jump -- provided you remember to pull the ripcord," the newspaper reported Saturday.
"Old guys don't want to be put on the shelf," he said. "We're still interested in ventures of various types."
Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, also a World War II pilot, made parachute jumps on his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays.
McGovern said he sees this as the perfect bipartisan birthday celebration.
"I'll tell you," he said, "when you're in combat, it's bipartisan -- nobody cares if you're a Democrat or a Republican or a kangaroo."
