Ten years ago last month, we covered a dramatic event performed by a daredevil named Felix Baumgartner. (My God… have I really been writing here that long?) He’s a skydiver who attempted to leap “from the edge of space” at 120,000 feet and break a series of parachuting records that had stood unchallenged since 1960. He succeeded in breaking most, though not all of the records and made it back alive. But today we’re not here to talk about Baumgartner, but rather the man whose records he challenged. That would be Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger jr. You may not be too familiar with that name, which is a shame because he was a personal hero of mine. But if you’ve ever been in the skydiving community as I was when I was younger, you would recall that everyone knew the name of “Captain Joe,” as he was often called, because he was an absolute legend. Sadly, he passed away yesterday at the age of 94. (Associated Press)Read More
RIP Captain Joe Kittinger 1928 – 2022
