Veteran Story: Jessica Zanetta

Jessica Zanetta

Courtesy Jessica Zanetta

Jessica Zanetta is from Eugene, OR. She joined the U.S. Army in part to see the world and to seek higher education after her service. She served as a training non-commissioned officer and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Zanetta served in airborne and air assault units. She had a particularly memorable experience while qualifying for her foreign jump wings at Fort Bragg one breezy December day. She was in the third of three groups to jump. The first group blew off course, missed the drop zone, and “mostly ended up in the trees.” Only half the second group landed in the drop zone. While parachuting down in the third group, Zanetta remembered “seeing jumpers hitting the ground below me very hard, grunting as they hit.” The winds were so high, a precision landing was impossible; Zanetta landed on her feet, then on her canteen, before being dragged by her chute until she released it. “I ended up with a few bruises but it was really fun,” she laughed.

After her military service, Jessica moved to Richmond, VA. She says she was “very lucky” to join the National Park Service as a budget technician at Richmond National Battlefield Park.

She says her military experience taught her “accountability and responsibility,” which have helped her in her career with the NPS.