CINCINNATI — Nearly 77 years after D-Day and the turning point of World War II, paratrooper Jim “Pee-Wee” Martin, who jumped that day, celebrated his 100th birthday here in Ohio.
Jodi Martin and her sister Courtney are Jim’s granddaughters. They were signed up to do a skydive jump in honor of their grandfather. Jodi organized a jump fest at Skydive Greene County to celebrate. She was excited, but a little nervous about her jump.
“I’m sure when I start loading the bus and I’m with my master jumper, Art Shaffer, who I’m super excited to jump with, my nerves will probably start getting a little bit — like my stomach will start rumbling a little bit,” said Jodi.
But despite her nerves, she said this was something she needs to do.
“A couple months ago I was with my grandpa and he said, ‘Well if you do it, I’ll meet you on the landing strip’ and then we talked a little bit more and then I thought, ‘I think I need to do it because if I don’t, I’ll probably regret it the rest of my life,”’ said Jodi.
Jim is a hero to many in his community and across the world for his dedication and bravery. He earned several medals during his service. He said he’s grateful for his experience on D-Day.
“I was very happy about it, and I’ll do it again if I had to,” said Jim.
Thousands of feet in the air, Jodi and Art soared through the sky, and slowly but surely, made their way down to the ground. It was an experience like none other for Jodi.
“The plane ride was little scary,” said Jodi. “I think that was probably more scary than the actual jump but it went so fast. It was like boom, boom, boom, and Art and I were the last out and so when I got right up to the door, I was like this is real.”
Jodi said she feels so honored to have the opportunity to experience a jump like the ones taken by her grandfather and the heroes like him.
“My grandpa doesn’t look at himself as hero,” said Jodi. “He talks about all the guys as heroes and this is for him today, and this is amazing, but every single guy in World War II, women (and) men, they were all amazing.”
