93-year-old NC vet skydives for first time on Veterans Day

RALEIGH, N.C. — A 93-year-old North Carolina veteran of World War II has gone skydiving for the first time.

Doug Gross joined the Army during the war in 1942 with plans to become a paratrooper, but instead was assigned to become an artilleryman.

Now, 75 years after he enlisted, Gross celebrated Veterans Day on Saturday by making his first jump from an airplane at Triangle North Executive Airport in Louisburg.

Gross served in North Africa, Italy and Germany and rose to the rank of technical sergeant. He also had a successful career as an agriculture professor at North Carolina State University.

Gross said after the jump that it was great and "worth the wait." He hopes to do it again soon with his 16-year-old grandson.

Associated Press