American Valor Quarterly Issue 12 - Spring 2015 | Page 36

ON JUNE 6, 2014, “PEE WEE” MARTIN MADE HEADLINE NEWS AROUND THE WORLD, MAKING THE JUMP INTO
NORMANDY, JUST INLAND FROM UTAH BEACH, AT THE AGE OF 93. DESPITE HIS AGE, AS HE TOLD CNN, THIS TIME
WAS MUCH EASIER, “IT DIDN’T (COMPARE), BECAUSE THERE WASN’T ANYBODY SHOOTING AT ME TODAY.”

It took several months to get
everything in line and when it finally
happened, I jumped, not with an
American group, but with a French
group. And it was quite an honor to be

able to jump with them. Some might
not realize that you can’t just go out
there and get in an airplane. Among
other things, they had to rent a C-47,
and that’s certainly not cheap. Seeing
me jump was really nothing. It might
have been the climax, but it’s really
nothing compared to what goes into all

of that and I very much appreciate what
they did. Personally, it was nice to make
that jump again, but I’m not special. I’m
not any different than anybody else. I
just happened to be in a good unit and
I appreciate that. We get this adulation,
but it’s at a point where it’s really
embarrassing because I’m not hero. A
hero is somebody who does something
completely out of character with no
training and no care for his personal
safety. For example, in a wreck, when
there’s a burning car and three or four
guys in suits come to help and drag the
guy out. They’re heroes.
AVQ

Top: Liberte Bonhomme Libre

Bottom: Jim Martin

As for the return jump I made
this past June in honor of the 70th
anniversary of D-Day, several people
said it would be a good idea and I
agreed. People have this idea that just
because you get older, you can’t do
anything. There’s two elements to why
I decided to jump again. First of all, it’s
a little ego on my part, to say, “Hell yes,
I can do it.” On the other hand, it’s to
say, just because you get older doesn’t
mean you have to sit around and wait
to die.

36

AMERICAN VALOR QUARTERLY