Jumping to inspire

Minutes before the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team jumped out of a twin-engine plane late Friday afternoon at the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival, the only female jumper said her thoughts were not on the 14,000-foot plunge, but rather on the girls in the crowd below watching her feat.

"In addition to representing the U.S. Army, I know I'm inspiring those little girls to be all they can be," said Master Sgt. Khalida Hendricks.

Hendricks, 28, of Los Alamos, N.M., is also the newest member of the Golden Knights, the most successful U.S. Department of Defense competitive sports team and winner of six world titles.

The team that showed off its aerial acrobatics Friday performs all over the world.

The Golden Knights, according to the official Web site, are in their 44th year of precision parachuting jumps. Brig. Gen. Joseph Stillwell, then chief of staff of XVIII Airborne Corps, formed the Golden Knights in 1959, and they have remained stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., the "Home of the Airborne," ever since.

Sergeant First-Class John Berentis leans out the open door of the C-31A airplane as it passes over the drop zone at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. (AARON EISENHAUER ~aeisenhauer@semissourian.com)

While there are four women on the competitive team, Hendricks is the only female that performs in demonstrations.

Her fellow team members treat her like one of the guys, Hendricks said, though she said the tryouts, which consist of six to eight weeks of rigorous training, were difficult.

"If you're left standing at the end, I guess you're a Golden Knight," said Hendricks, who completed 430 jumps as a civilian before enlisting in the Army.

The team of six always gets psyched for the jump with a special handshake, and one broke into a rendition of "Kung Fu Fighting" right before jumping at the first of Friday's two shows.

Still, several members said there is always a more somber moment where they pause to pay silent respect to the U.S. troops in Iraq.

Sgt. Joe Abeln stood at the back of the Golden Knights' C-31A airplane between the two open jump doors prior to their performance at the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival.

"They have no audience, no crowds, and I'd like to pass this feeling along to them," said Hendricks, who has visited Iraq several times.

While every jump was memorable, several Golden Knights said, favorites are the performances they've given at baseball stadiums, descending before sell-out crowds, with the panoramic view of the city skyline as a backdrop, which Hendricks described as "sensory overload."

Staff Sgt. Joe Jones, team videographer, said one of his best was jumping into Yankee Stadium shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, during a hometown rivalry game against the New York Mets.

"New York's a patriotic city anyway, and flying Army parachutes in there, the crowd goes nuts," Jones said.

One of the scarier jumps, said Sgt. Joe Abeln, 27, of St. Louis, was at a June show in Philadelphia, Pa., where they had to land on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, famous from the "Rocky" movies.

Ironically, Abeln, who has performed thousands of jumps at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour, is afraid of heights.

"I won't clean the rain gutters on the roof of my house. I have to get someone else to do it," he said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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