ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997               TAG: 9703270036
SECTION: EDITORIAL                PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO 

NO WIMP, HE GEORGE BUSH ISN'T SUPERMAN, BUT HE'S PROVING A VERY SPRY 72.

LOOK! IT'S a bird! It's a plane. No, it's...

...former President George Bush, leaping out of a plane and parachuting 12,500 feet to the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.

What a sight for skywatchers. Maybe better than the Hale-Bobb comet. For sure, the Geritol set is hailing the ex-commander-in-chief's derring-do.

Bush did it to fulfill a promise to himself, to do it again, for fun. His first such feat came in 1944, after his torpedo bomber was shot down by the Japanese and he was forced to jump into the ocean, where he was picked up by a U.S. submarine. Later, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

In taking the plunge, Bush proved himself to be a very spry 72-year-old and a heck of a good sport.

OK, Dana Carvey. Let's see you do this Bush imitation on ``Saturday Night Live.''

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