A leap of freedom

As if Terry Peoples’ job as a power system operator at Minnkota isn’t stressful enough, 17 years ago he decided to add jumping out of planes to his lifestyle. He’s a thrill seeker, and after his first jump with a friend, it was hard to keep him on the ground. “As soon as I landed, I just yelled at the guys, ‘Pack it up. Let’s go again,’” Peoples said.

He was hooked.

The hobby soon became a second calling, taking Peoples across the country – even the world – to skydive at events, perform tandem jumps with first-timers, and instruct those who want to pick up the pastime themselves. Peoples has now jumped more than 3,000 times, and his resume put him in prime position for the dive of a lifetime.

This June, he traveled to Europe to take part in activities marking the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, the Allies’ tide-turning invasion of Normandy during World War II. Following an airshow in Duxford, England, Peoples joined other skydivers in boarding an original WWII C-47 airplane to fly over the English Channel on June 2. When they arrived over Carentan, France, the paratroopers leapt one-by-one from the plane.

“Some of the guys consider it like walking into a church, being in the C-47,” Peoples said. “These planes flew paratroopers on D-Day and throughout World War II.”

Peoples made an additional ceremonial jump into Azeville, France, on June 5, and took time to visit other WWII landmarks, sites, museums and ceremonies while he was in the region. He says every American should experience a D-Day anniversary in Normandy to see the appreciation the locals hold for what America and the Allies did for the liberty of Europe.

“I lost my eye when I was 3 years old and wasn’t able to be in the military. So being a part of the ceremonies for the 80th anniversary of D-Day is my way of honoring those who served when I couldn’t,” he said.

This trip was just one of the many fascinating experiences Peoples has had as skydiver and instructor. The sport has taken him around the globe to Thailand, China, Japan, Puerto Rico, Panama, Hong Kong and several other countries. But what he enjoys most is sharing memories with tandem jumpers. He’s brought several of his co-op colleagues on tandem jumps over the years, but has also helped with marriage proposals, scattering the ashes of loved ones, celebrating cancer survivors and honoring military veterans.

“A couple of years ago, I took these two older gentlemen. Their father was a paratrooper on D-Day,” Peoples said. “They both brought their father’s reserve ripcord – the handle from the reserve parachute he used on D-Day – and put that in their pocket and jumped.”

MAIN IMAGE: Minnkota's Terry Peoples wears a replica WWII paratrooper uniform. (Minnkota/Michael Hoeft)