Good NewsWWII vet Lester Slate jumps from a plane for the first time at age 90
Captain Lester Slate flew planes for 40 years in both the Coast Guard and the Navy.
This weekend, the Exeter, Maine man jumped from a plane for the first time — on his 90th birthday.
"The Navy taught us how to use [parachutes] but they wouldn't let us, unless it was an emergency," the WWII vet told the Bangor Daily News.
Slate says he was inspired by former president George H. W. Bush, who jumped out of an airplane on his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays.
On Sunday, more than 50 people gathered at Pittsfield Airport — where Slate first trained as a pilot in the '40s, and where he met Maxine, his wife of 65 years — to watch Slate jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet. He was guided to the ground by a tandem jumper. Another skydiver accompanied them, trailing an American flag, the Associated Press reports.
"I think it's wonderful at that age to have that kind of energy and desire," Slate's sister-in-law, Jo Anne Slate, said. "Everybody has a desire to do something. His is to do this. Mine would be a giant hot fudge sundae."
Watch Slate's jump below.
Slate said the jump was terrific — and he'd like to do it again.
"When I get to be 95, or maybe 100," he told the Bangor Daily News.
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