Ohio Skydivers to honor Gulf war veterans by setting unoffical skydiving record on 9/11.

GREENE COUNTY, OH – Skydivers Bob Akers and David Hart have organized a unique event to show their support of our soldiers currently serving their country. Combined these two skydivers have over 7,000 parachute jumps and 35 years in the sport. Beginning at 4:00 AM 0n Saturday, September 11, 2004, David, along with Bob Akers, will strive to establish an unofficial world record for the most formation skydives in 24 hours, exceeding 120 jumps, at Skydive Greene County, located at 177 S. Monroe-Siding Rd., just outside of Xenia.

     According to Hart, "Huge sacrifices have been made and continue to be made by our local Reserve and National Guard soldiers and their families.  The event is an effort to honor these citizen soldiers and their families through increased awareness and to provide gifts and financial assistance to the military families who are struggling to make ends meet while their spouse is deployed.  It is also intended to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives."

     After paying any related expenses for the event, Hart states that all proceeds from Jump on 9/11 will go to the Ohio National Guard Family Readiness Program to control and disburse the funds to the appropriate people.  The mission of the program is to build strong guard families that are equipped to handle the challenges of life in the Ohio National Guard.  "With all the troops being deployed on the war on terrorism, this is a great way to show our support," Hart adds.  Skydive Greene County has agreed to donate a substantial portion of all tandem skydives to the same program. Selection.com and Team Fastrax have agreed to provide all the skydiving equipment necessary for the event.

     The tentative schedule for the Jump on 9/11 is as follows:

¨      4:00 AM: David & Bob begin night record jumps

¨      Sunrise: Bob and Dave take some recent Gulf War veterans for a tandem skydive.

¨      8:45 AM: Pause in event to honor the first tower falling, and all soldiers who have died in combat and/or are currently serving their country. Mike Canary of Team Fastrax will jump with the American Flag, while Lynn Meisberger sings the National Anthem.

¨      9:00 AM: Tandem jump sponsors begin jumping.

¨      Sunset: End record jump.  Victory jump with Team Fastrax and local volunteer skydivers. Celebration follows.

The needs are many for an event of this magnitude.  Your financial support is needed and you can show that support by pre-paying for a $200  skydive at Skydive Greene County for that weekend or contributing any dollar amount to the event.  Volunteers are also needed during the event.  For questions about how to help, please contact David Hart at 800-325-3609, ext. 3088 or his cell phone at 937-902-5326.  You can also email him at dhart@selection.com.  All checks or money orders to help with the Jump on 9/11 can be mailed to “Jump on 9/11”, c/o David Hart, Selection.com, 3091 W. Galbraith Road, Ste. 308, Cincinnati, Ohio 45239.