What keeps some D.B. Cooper investigators returning to Ted Braden is that his experience in the military and his service in two wars could have trained him to both make and survive the difficult parachute jump Cooper is known to have made. According to Epik Fails of History, Braden was part of the 101st airborne in World War II, and later served in Vietnam. Whether the real Cooper survived the jump in the dark over a remote area of the Pacific Northwest wilderness is another matter, based on further The Oregonian/OregonLive reporting.
According to Epik Fails of History, based on his apparent experience, Braden was an expert skydiver. While in Vietnam, Braden reportedly deserted the military and tried to find work as a mercenary in the Congo. Eventually, Braden was arrested and returned to the U.S. where he was honorably discharged from the military. Darren Schaefer of the Cooper-themed podcast “The Cooper Vortex” said that Braden was one of his top Cooper suspects, via The Oregonian/OregonLive.
