OH YEAH Anyone Can Jump By Frank Sessions "Stand up and hook up," bellowed the jump master above the roar of the plane's engines. The first stick of ten men jumped into action. "Count off for equipment check!" "One okay!" "Two okay!" "Three okay!" "Four okay!" "Five okay!" "Six okay!" "Seven okay!" "Eight okay!" "Nine okay!" "Ten okay!" "Is everyone okay!" was the familiar question of the jump master. "Yeeesss!" sang out ten men in unison. This was our third jump of the parachute training schedule. Actually there wa snothing to be afraid of. It is a matter of intelligence over animal instincts, the chaplain had said. Your intelligence tells you that if you do as you have been instructed you shall not get hurt your animal instincts tell you that your chute won't open. It is a matter of intelligence winning over animal instincts to get out that door. And too, the captain had pointed out, casualty statistics show that it is safer to jump from a plane 1200 feet high than to drive twenty miles down an average U. S. highway. "Ready go!" "There they go we're next. Oh, god what am I doing here! Peeling potatoes, standing inspection, anything but Oh, god why didn't I join the quartermaster's!" Roberts on my right nudged me and said, "Look at Schultz." Schultz was the cartoonist's conception of a country hayseed. He was tall and rawboned. He had unruly sandy hair, with a large red nose that protruded beyond his steel helmet. Nickel-sized freckles completed his makeup. "Look at Schultz," Roberts repeated. There he was, the last man of the stick. If I had not known it was Schultz, I doubt whether I would have recognized him. Gone were his freckles, gone was the distinct red from his nose. In fact, his whole complexion had become scarlet, starting at his hair line and extending down past his open jacket. He was a wide-eyed monster ready to spit fire. As the stick began to move forward, Schultz shut his eyes tightly. He raised his free right arm, but the line had moved faster than he anticipated. He started to run, waving his hand frantically in front of him. He turned to the right in the vicinity of the door, ducked his head and leaped. There was a sharp jangle of equipment that could be heard above the engines. Schultz had missed the doorway by a good foot. Blood gushed from his nostrils as 8 he lay on his back and pawed desperately. The jump master ended his antics by booting him out the door. Two minutes later, when our stick hit the ground, we ran over to where Schultz was rolling up his chute. His nose was still bleeding profusely. "How do you feel, Schultz?" we asked. "Fine, fine, he drawled. "It's the best jump I've made yet. Wasn't a bit scared. Though I can't understand how I got the nose-bleed. Must have been the sudden change of altitude." Youthful Devotion By Jerry Carlile The moment I first saw her, I knew I could never be happy with another. Her beauty was so completely unequaled that in my mind it eclipsed that of all those around her. I resolved, then and there, to do everything in my power to make her my own. Oh, I won't pretend she was the first. There were others, but their loveliness was to her as the moon to the sun. Anyway all of them were part of the past. Dimly I realized there would probably be others in the future. My nature was such that there would never be one with whom I'd be content the rest of my earthly days, but these things did not matter now. There before me she stood, radiantly lovely. I spoke to myself: "I must have her, for she is so lovely that she is the fullfillment of my fondest dream, my every hope. When I am with her parties, games, dances, shows, or just out for a malt. Nothing will be too good for her. Nothing!" Without further hesitation I walked over to where she stood, and touching her gently, said, "You're the loveliest creature I've ever seen." Well, that's the way it started. The days that followed, I devoted entirely to her. Oh, there were others who wanted her, men with more money than I, with finer homes, college educations and such. But they did not dissuade me from my efforts. Never once did I doubt she could be mine if I let nothing alter my purpose. And, finally my dreams were realized. For the last year now, I have worked hard for her, slaving all day long with a shovel so that she might have anything she needed. Almost every cent I've made I have gladly given up for her, so that she could be more beautiful. To be seen on the streets with her was the greatest satisfaction I have ever known. But last Wednesday was the end for us two. While we were going down town, a steering rod broke; she wrapped herself around a telephone pole. Her once lovely body is now a shattered wreck. It's really a tragedy, for she was the best darn car I've ever had! 9