At 89 years old, most people spend their birthdays quietly, surrounded by family and friends. Al "Abby" Ramirez chose to do things a little differently. The former World War II Navy machine gunner and Korean War Army veteran took his 104th skydive from 13,000 feet in the air.
According to the Lompoc Record, Ramirez spent time as an airborne school instructor at Fort Campbell on the Tennessee-Kentucky border before he retired from military service. When Ramirez heard about the four Marines and the Navy sailor who were killed in the Chattanooga, Tennessee, shooting on July 16, he was devastated. He dedicated his birthday jump to the fallen heroes' memories and to the memory of Robin Ballachey, a former skydiving instructor with whom Ramirez was friends.
"Obviously, there was lots of sky diving during World War II, so it's kind of significant that he used his sky dive to jump out and dedicate it to Robin [Ballachey] and the four Marines that died in Tennessee, especially with him being 89," David Hughes, owner of Sky Dive Santa Barbara, told the Lompoc Record. "It's kind of cool what he did."
Ramirez said this latest jump would be his last, but close friends told the news source that he was known for changing his mind.