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100-year-old Mililani resident celebrates birthday with skydive jump

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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Mililani resident Polito “Paul” Olivas, who turned 100 years old on August 22nd, did a tandem free-fall parachute jump at Skydive Hawaii today at Dillingham Airfield.

Retired Army Master Sgt. Polito “Paul” Olivas, who turned 100 on Aug. 22, made a freefall tandem parachute jump today at Dillingham Airfield to celebrate his birthday.

The Mililani resident was an Army paratrooper in World War II who jumped into Normandy on D-Day in 1944 with the 101st Airborne Division. He figures his last jump was probably around 1964.

Asked before he went up in a Skydive Hawaii Cessna Grand Caravan how he was doing, Olivas said, “I feel great. Excited. Ready to go.”

After he made the freefall attached to Richard Doppelmayer, who has over 26,000 parachute jumps and was back on the ground, Olivas said it was, “Excellent. Let’s do it again!”

The 5-foot-2, 120-pound Olivas’ Army jumps were on a static line that deploys the parachute after leaving the airplane.

This was his first freefall jump — made from 14,000 feet.

“I like it. It’s so nice flying like a bird,” he said.

>> See more photos of Olivas’ jump in our photo gallery.

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