George O’Brien, 88, has bravery in abundance considering that as a WWII paratrooper he disliked jumping out of airplanes.
He was terrified the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth jumps, he said. He was scared every time he jumped.
Recently, however, he made one more jump 70 years after the last, a total of 26, as a member of the U.S Army’s 11th Airborne Division stationed in Japan during the occupation, after the war ended. He was the 11th sibling and four served in the armed forces.
There were five of them in the service simultaneously. One brother was killed on Leyte.
He never relished jumps, said his son, Tim O’Brien. He said he had to be pushed into the sky every time.
He received a pay increase of $25 a month as a paratrooper, said another son, Tim O’Brien. That was big money in those days.
It gets me away from the rocking chair, George O’Brien said. He wants to do things like this, in addition to having his family, walking, and going to McDonald’s.
He was in the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division during the occupation of Japan. Of his ten siblings, six served in the military, Click on Detroit reported.
“We’re all proud of him,” Sean O’Brien said. “He’s more courageous than most of them for having done this.”