John Ciacciarelli will turn 78 years old on Dec. 16. So the idea of jumping from an airplane at 10,000 feet was less terrifying than it might have been when he was younger – although the first time he jumped back in October, he admits he kept his eyes closed until the parachute opened.
He knew the free fall was supposed to be the best part. So a few weeks later, he did it again – keeping his eyes wide open for the first 4,500 feet, and boy, he says, was it was worth it.
When he first came up with the idea of doing it a few months ago, his doctor thought he was crazy.
“I told my doctor at my age I was already playing hooky on death, so I might as well try it.” – John Ciacciarelli
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Missed his opportunity in the Army
Born in the back of a shop in Jersey City, Ciacciarelli is the son of a shoemaker. He attended St. Paul’s Grammar School in the Greenville section of the city, graduated from Snyder High School in 1950, and then “banged around” some machine shops for a few years. He worked one day for General Foods in Hoboken before securing a job with the American Can Company, where he worked from 1951 until 1963 with a two-year stint in the military during that time. He finally ended up as a union electrician, from which he retired in 1995.
Oddly enough, his decision to jump from an airplane in 2010 relates back to an urge he had while serving in the military. In 1954, he was stationed with the 82nd Airborne, a proud and noble unit of paratroopers known for their combat-readiness.
“I entered service on Dec. 1, 1953 and I was scheduled to be discharged in December 1955,” he said. “In 1955, I asked to go to jump school in September. They didn’t want to send me because my time was so short, but they did. It was a three week course. After one week, I quit. A couple of years after I got out, it really started to bug me. I felt like I had discredited the service. And I didn’t like the feeling at all. I said before I die, I’m going to do it, and I did.”
He says his real ambition is to join the annual June 6 re-creation of the Normandy Invasion airdrop that is performed by the 101st and 82nd Airborne units.
Miles up and coming down
Encouraged by the fact that his 19-year-old female cousin parachuted before, Ciacciarelli decided this would be the year he would make his first jump.
“When I got there, there were about 20 or 30 kids, and a 63-year-old man,” he said.
He remembers the plane rocking and rolling and the ground getting further away.
“I asked myself, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ Then the pilot shakes me and tells me it’s time to go,” Ciacciarelli said. “I’m on my knees, and he’s telling me to make sure the harness is nice and tight. Then he opens the door, and my God, there’s nothing but space, wind, and cold. He taps me on my right leg and tells me I have to stick my foot out onto the board. I keep my hand flush with the door, kind of low until my whole body is almost out of the plane. He said something – I think he said, ‘Are you ready?’ The next thing I know I’m flying through the sky. The first time, I close my eyes. I don’t want to know nothing from nothing. At 4,500 feet, I felt the tug and I glide down the next 5,000 feet.”
The second time, determined to see it all, he keeps his eyes open.
“It was beautiful,” he said. “Everything that started out small gets bigger. I saw housing, shrubbery, hangers rushing up at me. I was dropping at 120 miles an hour.”
Although the oldest on those two occasions, Ciacciarelli was not the oldest one to jump.
“I heard there was a woman at around 89 who jumped,” he said. “And Papa Bush (former President George H. Bush) still does it, too.”
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.