Skydive Spaceland and Top Competitive Team, Dallas Disturbance, Offer Tributes

DALLAS, TX, UNITED STATES, September 11, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Today, skydivers in the five Skydive Spaceland locations offered ground and aerial tributes to service members and 9-11 first responders. The Skydive Spaceland drop zones located in Dallas, Houston, and San Marcos (Texas); Atlanta, Ga.; and Southern Florida honored the heroes of 9-11 and its aftermath by flying giant American flags, celebrating service members on-site, and featuring the skydiving team Dallas Disturbance in an intricate ?9-11? 16-person aerial formation. A group of 33 skydivers (members of Parachutists Over Phorty society) also did a Twin Towers-themed skydive at the Houston location.

Spaceland owner/founder Steve Boyd said, ?The entire Spaceland organization has genuine appreciation and thankfulness for all service members. Today we have a chance to express this in the sky and to honor our nation?s many heroes who provide us our freedom and liberties to pursue the opportunities we all enjoy.?

?Building a ?9-11? in the sky is meant not only to honor all the heroes of 9-11 and those that served and sacrificed in the 20 years since, but also to help bring a divided country we all love together for a few moments,? said Dallas Disturbance founder and captain Ron Shipp.

Craig Girard, a veteran of the Army?s Golden Knights, multi-time world champion, and the team?s co-coach, explained: ?Modern recreational skydiving has its roots firmly planted in military and first responder parachuting, such as paratroopers, fire jumpers, and supply drops. Many in our community also come from those groups and we all have a great deal of respect, admiration, and thankfulness for those who serve. While building formations for ?fun? is what we do, there was a strong desire to do something extra special to show our gratitude and respect. After all, without the sacrifice and hard work of others, none of us would be here today to be able to skydive just for ?fun?.?

Eliana Rodriguez, co-coach and multiple world champion, added, ?Our team members range in age from 26 to 70, with individual jump numbers of 1,010 to more than 31,000 jumps! Our professional backgrounds are broad including a doctor, a reverend, veterans, educators, scientists and researchers, mechanics, engineers, computer programmers, statisticians, consultants, pilots, and business owners hailing from multiple states and countries. We hope our displays across Texas today bring a smile to all, but also stand as an example that in America dreams that are sky high can be achieved by us all when we work together as a team.?

Ben Nelson, a veteran of the Air Force and drop zone manager of Spaceland?s Dallas location, unfurled a large American flag today while he was flying his parachute overhead. ?It's an incredible honor each time I?m able to make a skydive with our flag,? he said. ?Today hits home especially hard for me having served in Afghanistan and Iraq. That our community pulls together even tighter on occasions like this is especially uplifting.?

ABOUT SKYDIVE SPACELAND
Skydive Spaceland is a three-generation family-owned and -operated skydiving business headquartered in Rosharon, Texas, about 20 minutes south of downtown Houston, Texas. First opened for business in Rosharon in February 2000 by Steve Boyd, Sr., Skydive Spaceland has grown into a truly world-class skydiving facility, open 7 days a week and capable of handling hundreds of skydivers jumping daily. Skydive Spaceland has also expanded to Clewiston/Miami, Fl.; Atlanta (Rockmart), Ga.; Dallas (Whitewright), Texas; and San Marcos, Texas. More than 200,000 skydiving students have been instructed at Spaceland; the organization trains more civilian skydiving students to their basic license than any other U.S. skydiving school. The company facilitates about 200,000 skydives per year.

Skydive Spaceland has also hosted the world?s largest skydiving competition, the United States Parachuting Association (USPA) National Skydiving Championships, as well as several other large competitions including the U.S. National Collegiate Parachuting Championships and multiple U.S. National Canopy Piloting Championships. Several state records have also been set at Spaceland including the Texas State Record 150-person skydive in 2007, 168-person skydive in 2011, and multiple Women?s Texas State Record skydives held jointly as fundraisers for Jump for the Rose, a local breast cancer diagnosis and treatment facility.

For more information, see www.SkydiveSpaceland.com.

ABOUT DALLAS DISTURBANCE 16
Dallas Disturbance is a 16-person competitive formation skydiving team founded in 2015 and a member of the Skydive Spaceland organization. Disturbance is a 3-time silver medalist at the United States Parachute Association National Competition including 2015, 2018 and 2019; the previous year of competition (2020) was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The competition team consists of 18 members: 16 participants, a videographer, and an alternate. Members range from ages of 26 to 70, and come from all walks of life. Combined, the team members have over 100,000 skydives; the least experienced member has 1,010 skydives and the most experienced more than 31,000 skydives.

For more information see https://www.facebook.com/DallasDisturbance

###

Video of the celebrations can be downloaded. Please note that footage will be added to this folder throughout the day from the various Spaceland locations.

Christy West
Skydive Spaceland
christy@skydivespaceland.com
+1 281-369-3337