Making the Jump

History was made at Jefferson Barracks on March 1, 1912, or rather, was made over it. On that day Albert Berry became the first person to make a parachute jump out of an airplane. After weeks of testing the parachute with anvils, Berry decided to make the jump much against the advise of his friends. He stuffed the silk chute into a metal cone built onto the airplane and took off from Kinloch Field, now Lambert Airport.

As the plane reached Jefferson Barracks, he pulled the chute out of the cone and jumped. For a few seconds as he plunged to the ground nothing happened, but then the parachute opened and Berry landed amid the cheers of astonished soldiers. 

From that first jump new worlds were opened.  Parachute jumps became a popular attraction at barnstorming air shows and later became a weapon of war for the world's military, most notably as part of the D-Day invasion.

The paratrooper example was applied to smoke jumpers who dive into forest fires to fight them in otherwise inaccessible places only carrying the equipment on their backs.  Skydiving is a small but eagerly practiced sport today throughout the world. And it all started with one man brave enough to risk his life at Jefferson Barracks.

The centennial of the first parachute jump is more than a year away. Enough time exists if enough will exists to mark the anniversary. We could have a proper celebration, inviting civilian and military parachutists, aviation history lovers and the general public to mark the accomplishment of Berry and celebrate how far parachuting has come in a century.

This is something that people— not the government— can organize, promote and bring to fruition if they are willing to start now and keep at it. And there could be, on March 1, 2012, the dedication of a marker or some other tribute to Berry on the grounds of Jefferson Barracks. This could be the focus of a national observance, a true event  in local history.  If the citizens of this area have a fraction of the Albert Berry's will, the grassroots effort will succeed. Are we willing to make the jump?