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Swaziland RPCV Ron Beeson marks 70th birthday with plunge from sky
Swaziland RPCV Ron Beeson marks 70th birthday with plunge from sky
70th birthday marked with plunge from sky
By Todd Moschella
The Oklahoman
SKIATOOK - More than 50 years after his service as an Army Ranger jump instructor, Ron Beeson learned to parachute all over again two days before turning 70.
In honor of the occasion, family and friends gathered at Air Tight Skydive in Skiatook to cheer on Beeson, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Central Oklahoma, who sat through hours of careful instruction before taking the plunge.
Beeson's 70th birthday is today.
"The last time I jumped out of a plane was September 9, 1954, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky," Beeson said. "Military jumping is very different."
First of all, there's the height of the jump, Beeson said. Paratroopers routinely jump closer to the ground to limit the amount of time they spend in the air.
Beeson on Saturday was flown to 12,000 feet six times the altitude of his highest jump with the Rangers.
Then there's the rip cord. Beeson had been trained using a tow line that would automatically pull open the parachute when the soldier had cleared the plane.
"When he got up there, he was a little anxious, but he wasn't about to back out," daughter Toni Beeson said. "I think that anybody that still shows they are excited about life and can take chances like that is just great."
For Ron Beeson, the day was about having fun.
"I'd wanted to do it when I got out of the service, but I had an obligation to my family," he said. "Now it's really whetted my appetite, I'll probably do it again."
From the ground, his daughter and friends said they could tell Beeson was enjoying playing the daredevil.
"He was whoopin' and hollerin' the whole way down," his daughter said.
Beeson enlisted a month before the end of the Korean War in 1953, he said. He was a member of the 508 Regimental Combat Team at Fort Campbell, Ky., and briefly served with the 4th Infantry Division, which was stationed in Germany.
He earned a coveted spot in the Presidential Honor Guard in Washington before he left the service in 1956. He later traveled to Africa as part of the Peace Corps, working in Swaziland from 1979 to 1982.
Beeson, who lives by Lake Tenkiller near Cookson, continued the birthday festivities Sunday with a party at his home.