Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Theoplis Stewart II | Sailors assigned to the Navy Parachute Team "Leap Frogs," meet Edward P. Kruse, a...... read more read more
DULUTH, Minn. — A quiet moment of honor unfolded behind the scenes at the Duluth Airshow on July 5, 2025, when retired Master Chief Parachute Rigger Edward P. Kruse—one of the Navy’s original parachute demonstration team members—reunited with today’s Navy Leap Frogs.
The reunion, arranged by Special Operator 1st Class Cody Rochon and Kruse’s son, Karl, brought together past and present generations of Navy parachutists in a symbolic meeting that captured more than six decades of legacy and mentorship.
Kruse, 95, is a Buffalo Lake, Minnesota native and former member of the “Chuting Stars,” the Navy’s first official parachute demonstration team established in 1961 during the 50th anniversary of Naval Aviation. His visit to the airshow was a return not just to an event, but to a tradition he helped pioneer.
In front of the iconic Blue Angels’ “Fat Albert” C-130 aircraft, Kruse signed a photo of himself from his Chuting Stars days, which will be displayed in the Leap Frogs’ office as a tribute to the history of Navy skydiving.
“Meeting him and hearing his stories connects us to our roots in a very real way,” said Rochon. “He was part of the Chuting Stars—that’s who we were before becoming the Leap Frogs. His legacy is our foundation.”
After the Leap Frogs performed their jump, Karl Kruse invited the team to sign his father’s original Navy parachute logbook—a powerful gesture that blended history with present-day service.
For Kruse, the moment was another in a lifetime of historic jumps. As documented in his reflections, he was the final person to parachute from a U.S. Navy blimp—a jump he made on June 28, 1961.
“We parked over the target and dropped a drift indicator,” Kruse wrote in One Last Sortie. “After adjusting our parking spot accordingly, the nine other jumpers stepped out of the gondola. Being the jumpmaster, I was the last jumper to leave the airship, and thereby the last person to ever parachute from a U.S. Navy ‘Blimp.’”
His parachuting career included more than 200 jumps, many during the Chuting Stars’ cross-country airshow circuits. In A Day at the Office, Kruse described a jump that nearly ended in Canada when wind drift carried him and another jumper toward the St. Lawrence Seaway. They managed to steer their modified canopies toward a backyard on Elba Island, landing safely among surprised civilians.
“We cleared the shoreline homes by a hair, pulled up our legs to avoid the high-line wires, and dropped into a garden with our canopies practically collapsing together,” he recalled. “The homeowner came running from the back of the garden all excited and wanted to know where our plane crashed.”
During his 30-year Navy career, Kruse earned the first U.S. Parachute Association Class D expert license ever awarded to a Sailor, and was the first Navy parachutist to earn a USPA instructor license. He served aboard the USS Essex during the Korean War, and later deployed on the USS Coral Sea and USS Ticonderoga.
“My father entered the Navy in 1950 and retired after 30 years as a master chief parachute rigger,” said Karl. “He’s so proud of this team and of the Sailors carrying on that legacy today.”
Today’s Leap Frogs carry that legacy with them. While modern equipment, training, and aircraft have changed, the spirit of teamwork and precision remains the same.
Kruse’s visit during Duluth Navy Week served as a reminder that Navy history isn’t just kept in books—it’s passed down through stories, handshakes, and moments like these.
Duluth Navy Week is one of 15 Navy Weeks in 2025, part of the Navy’s 250th birthday celebration. Each weeklong event brings Sailors, equipment, and outreach efforts to cities across the U.S., building connections with the communities they serve.
For the Leap Frogs and all who witnessed the reunion, the encounter with PRCM Edward P. Kruse was more than a meet-and-greet. It was a living salute to Naval heritage, a link in a chain of excellence that stretches from the Chuting Stars of the 1960s to the precision jumps of today.
| Date Taken: | 07.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2025 15:33 |
| Story ID: | 542100 |
| Location: | DULUTH, MINNESOTA, US |
| Hometown: | BUFFALO LAKE, MINNESOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Parachute Rigger
