Friday, November 16, 2007

President George H.W. Bush skydives at age 83


He's 83 and just had hip replacement surgery in January, but that isn't keeping former President George H.W. Bush from skydiving


Bush celebrated the grand reopening of his presidential museum on Saturday with a surprise skydive, his sixth and his first since 2004, when he jumped to celebrate his 80th birthday.


Bush jumped on Saturday strapped to an expert from the Army Golden Knights parachute team, as he did three years ago. His first parachute jump was in 1944 when his plane was shot down over the Pacific island of Chi Chi Jima.


The 69,000-square-foot museum, described by the former president as the "centerpiece of my library," has been mostly closed since April for an $8.3 million facelift. The museum and library opened 10 years ago this week on the Texas A&M University campus about 100 miles northwest of Houston