There was a day they were doing five jumps in a day “ for some general ” and on the third jump his parachute wasn ’ t opening , instead just getting twisted up — a malfunction they called a “ cigarette roll .”
“ I felt a jerk , so part of it had to have opened , and then I heard guys calling ‘ Pull your reserve !’ and I thought to myself , ‘ Boy , somebody ’ s in trouble ,” said St . Germain .
He didn ’ t realize at first that it was him to whom they were yelling . Just before he hit the ground , the parachute opened up a bit more , but the impact was still enough to totally knock him out . In fact , it knocked the rim of his helmet off .
Another standout memory from his time in the military was of a day they were visiting what was called a “ small town ” of about 60,000 to 70,000 people in Japan . “ It wasn ’ t [ a small town ] to me ,” he said . They were spending the day “ just browsing around ” in the town when they came upon a small monastery where an American priest had been living for many years .
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