MILLINOCKET — Republican U.S. House candidate Dale Crafts did a tandem skydive Friday to raise money for a program that provides outdoor experiences to veterans.
Crafts, a former state representative who is paralyzed from the waist down, made the jump from 11,000 feet in the early afternoon at Millinocket Regional Airport. He is running against Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a Marine Corps veteran who holds Maine’s 2nd District seat.
Crafts landed safely after the plunge and said he can now “cross it off the bucket list.”
He said he took the leap to raise money for the Pine Grove Program, a Maine organization that provides free outdoor experiences for veterans, military members and disaster victims. Crafts has been paraplegic since a motorcycle accident in 1983.
Crafts and Golden are in a closely watched race in a swing district. Golden won the seat in 2018. A spokesman for Golden said the congressman “fully appreciates all efforts to raise funds to benefit his fellow veterans,” and pointed to Golden’s efforts, such as bringing a 24-bed U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs substance abuse and mental health treatment facility to Maine.
Organizers of Friday’s event said Crafts was assisted by Chris Tyll, a former Navy SEAL; and Brad Farrin, the former command chief master sergeant for the Maine Air National Guard. Farrin took the jump along with Crafts. Both men were accompanied by a jumpmaster – an expert skydiver – who was strapped to their backs.
Maine Republicans have some recent history with daredevil jumps. Former President George H.W. Bush celebrated his 90th birthday by making a tandem parachute jump near his summer home in Maine in 2014. Bush made the jump despite having lost the use of his legs.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
