HOUSTON (KTRK) -- If you had the chance to accomplish something on your bucket list, would you "jump" at it?
I did.
I've always wanted to jump out of plane. A few days ago, I got my chance.
Sargeant First Class Aaron Figel is part of the U.S. Army's elite parachute team, the Golden Knights.
"It's the best job in the world," Fiegel said. "Never gets old. It's one of the things I've found in my life that I could do it every single day, multiple times in a day, and it's just as fun as the first time."
The Golden Knights is the same group entrusted to jump four times with President George H. W. Bush.
"I had the honor of taking him on two tandem free-fall jumps, and it was a blast," BRYAN said.
"He was all excited. After the first time, he was ready to go again," BRIAN said. "I'm sure he's ready to go again right now."
On this day, it's my turn.
They like to joke around, but the men and women of the Army's Golden Knights are the real deal. My tandem instructor, Staff Sgt. Jared Zell, has made more than 4,200 jumps and has been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
After some instruction and safety training, it's time to suit up and head out.
My father was Special Forces in the Army, so he had more than 500 jumps. He told me all about it and, of course, I watched him do it for years.
That's one of the reasons I wanted to skydive with the Knights. My dad was a career military officer. He served as a Special Forces paratrooper in the states and overseas in Vietnam and Panama.
He let me borrow his Airborne wings for my jump with the Golden Knights.
The Knights do their best to keep everyone relaxed. After all, we're about to jump out of airplane at 13,500 feet.
Once we reach 5,000 feet, it's time to get harnessed together and practice one last time.
Before I knew it, the door was open.
After 60 seconds of free falling and another few minutes gliding down, it was over.
But I will never forget it.
local, casey curry
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