Parachute

World War II generals didn't believe black soldiers had the courage to parachute from the belly of a plane. Walter Morris proved them wrong before the war ended.George Bivens did the same in Korea. And when it was Robert L. Drake's turn during the Vietnam War, he too proved that a black man could have wings.They lived through different wars, served with different military units, parachuted from different planes. But these men share a history symbolized by a banner and a crest that hang on a wall in East Baltimore's Wooden Nickel bar: a winged gold parachute topped by a star and a black panther perched on a parachute canopy.

Baltimore has been selected to host a Navy Week in June, when the Blue Angels, the Leap Frogs parachute team and ships and sailors will join in the War of 1812 bicentennial celebration. Also scheduled to visit from June 11 to 19 are sailors from the U.S.S. Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, and the U.S. Navy Band, the Navy said Thursday. Admirals and other senior leaders "will engage with local corporate, civic, government and education leaders," according to a release.

NEW YORK -- Ousted as president and co-chief executive of Time Warner Inc. in February because of poor performance, N.J. Nicholas Jr. is getting a parting deal from the company that almost makes losing one's job an enviable proposition."

A Virginia man was injured and cited with trespassing after he tried to parachute off the Maryland Public Television radio tower in Crownsville. A second man was also cited for trespassing. According to the Anne Arundel County police department, Robert Scott Morgan, 25, of Fairfax, Va., sustained injuries when his parachute did not fully open before he hit the ground after jumping off the radio tower shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday. The incident occurred in the 1600 block of Hawkins Road in Crownsville.

From the craggy promontories of Block Island, R.I., to the "American utopia" of Chautauqua, N.Y., the creative genius of humankind asserts itself. And there is time to marvel. Herewith, a paean in five parts to the elixir of time off. 1. Change agent. Violinist Aaron Dworkin is a walking billboard for diversity. Born to an Irish Catholic mother and a black Jehovah's Witness father, and the adopted son of a Jewish couple in New York, Mr. Dworkin learned music at the foot of an immigrant teacher, a man whose daily command to him was: "You no talk.

"WE MADE IT as big as possible," said Rob Lamdin, father of Alyssa Lamdin, the third-grade student whose enormous parachute took a record-breaking 6.07 seconds to descend from the roof of Spring Garden Elementary School.The homework project took three hours for Alyssa and her father, who attached eight strands of fishing line between a Styrofoam cup and an ultra-lightweight plastic trash bag."We tested it from our second-floor window," he said.Last week the Lamdins, including Alyssa's mother, Rachel, were among the 38 parents and siblings who gathered on the school lawn, craning their necks to check out the descent of parachutes made by Alyssa and her classmates.

It fell out of the sky, but the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't know what it is. Neither does the U.S. Weather Service, nor the Howard County police.All Elkridge resident Charles Irby knows is that a white parachute attached to a mysterious box was still hanging in a walnut tree in his front yard yesterday."I think it was an intelligence-gathering device," Mr. Irby said of the battered box, which has duct tape, serial numbers and what looks like the words "Lo-cate Microsonde" printed on it.Two gray wires also are sticking out of the box, which is about the size of a 5-gallon bucket.

A powered parachute crashed in a field minutes after takeoff last weekend at a private Carroll County airport, injuring the 55-year-old pilot, authorities said yesterday. About 7:10 p.m. Sunday, Geoffrey Ronald Jobe of the 13000 block of Jarrettsville Pike in Phoenix in Baltimore County lost control of his two-seater Destiny powered parachute at the privately owned Keymar Airpark. Jobe stored his craft in an airport hangar. He was listed in serious condition yesterday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he had undergone surgery on his ankle and foot.

A powered parachute crashed in a field minutes after takeoff last weekend at a private Carroll County airport, injuring the 55-year-old pilot, authorities said yesterday. About 7:10 p.m. Sunday, Geoffrey Ronald Jobe of the 13000 block of Jarrettsville Pike in Phoenix in Baltimore County lost control of his two-seater Destiny powered parachute at the privately owned Keymar Airpark. Jobe stored his craft in an airport hangar. He was listed in serious condition yesterday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he had undergone surgery on his ankle and foot.

Army Sgt. Steven Robertson straddled the open doorway of the twin-propeller plane, half of his untethered body exposed to the whipping wind, and strained to spot the 50-yard line of M&T Bank Stadium 4,000 feet below. The Fokker C-31A Friendship of the Army Parachute Team banked 10 degrees left and right according to the hand signals of Golden Knights squad leader Sgt. 1st Class Harold Meyers, who was crawling an all fours, alternately poking his quickly reddening nose out of the two rear open doors.

The case of former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson, who pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in May, was back in the news this week after it was revealed that he is continuing to collect his $39,468 state pension, despite having admitted to taking more than $200,000 in bribes from developers. The disgraced former official reportedly has been collecting the money since January, thanks to a loophole in Maryland law that allows the state to deny public officials' pension benefits only if they are convicted of a crime while serving in office.

Stanislaw Edward Bask Mostwin, a highly decorated World War II Polish freedom fighter whose exploits were worthy of a Hollywood film, died Monday of arrhythmia at his Ruxton home. He was 94. Recalling his years in the underground during World War II, Mr. Mostwin described the experience for the old Sunday Sun Magazine in 1986 as "fantastic, a James Bond life for a young man. " He added, "You are defending your home. There is no hesitation, you just have to go and do it. The alternative is not to be yourself.

Hewlett-Packard's Standards of Business Conduct, like most corporate ethics policies, are earnest, precise and admonitory. "We know that actions speak louder than words," company Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd wrote a couple years ago in a preface to the code. "We must make decisions and behave in ways that we can be proud of, that reflect our commitment to doing the right thing. " Only Hurd can say whether he was proud of fudging thousands of dollars in expense reports and concealing his alleged romantic relationship with contractor Jodie Fisher from the company's board and the accounts-payable department.

E d Hale's attempt to save 1st Mariner Bank might or might not work. But you ought to be impressed by the former trucker's dedication as he doubles down on what in recent years has been a disastrous bet. As bankers everywhere unfurl the golden parachutes of incompetence, Hale may be the only CEO in America trying to bail out his bank with his own money. 1st Mariner never got the government welfare lavished on other lenders from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

What Color Is Your Parachute? 2009 By Richard Nelson Bolles Ten Speed Press / 407 pages / $18.95 The popular What Color Is Your Parachute? series started as a self-published, self-help book in 1970 when its author used the word "parachute" to mean career transitions. The book transitioned into annual commercial editions in 1972 and soon became the bible for job hunters. According to business lore, the phrase "golden parachute" appeared a decade or more later as a play on the book's title.

A number of years ago, I couldn't be persuaded to ride "Superman: Ride of Steel," at Six Flags America. I simply hate that feeling I get in my stomach (with a smile on my face) when riding over the crest of the first hill of a roller coaster. When I was given the chance to take a media ride with pilot Charles Lynch and the Yak Attack Demo Team, I was faced with another chance of placing my life in someone else's hands, and photo editor Chuck Weiss wanted me to shoot video and capture photos.

NEW YORK - Philip J. Purcell's golden parachute has a platinum lining. The board of Morgan Stanley has awarded Purcell, who retired as chairman and chief executive after a bitter struggle for control of the firm, an exit package worth an estimated $113.7 million. The disclosure by the firm late yesterday came two days after it reported that John J. Mack signed a contract worth up to $25 million a year to return to Morgan Stanley as Purcell's successor. Purcell leaves with a long list of parting gifts, including a departure bonus worth $42.7 million based on the company's performance through the second quarter of this year.

NASA scientists struggled into the evening to salvage precious solar samples from its mangled $260 million Genesis spacecraft, which slammed into the Utah desert yesterday at more than 190 mph when its parachute failed to open. The spacecraft had spent three years trolling beyond the moon to collect solar particles that could answer questions about the solar system's origins and evolution. It was the first time NASA had attempted to return extraterrestrial material to Earth robotically.