Pat started jumping in 1961 and was forced to quit when he was 60 after pounding in and leaving an 8 inch hole in the ground.   He made over 1500 jumps before breaking both legs and damaging internal organs.  the accident laid him up for three years.  At that time he was working for the Massachusetts Electric as a lineman and had been married to Irene for 37 years.  They have 2 children, 5 grand children and 4 great grand children.

The trailer park he was living in at the time printed this abut him:

"Getting TO KNOW YOU"
  This article appeared IN THE Trailer Estates TRIBUNE, JUNE 2002

  We have some pretty interesting and unique neighbors among us.   The Trailer  Tribune features one resident each month in our "Getting to Know Your; Getting to Know All About You" column

  We've selected Pat Gorham for this Month's feature.   Pat and his wife Irene are originally from Lynn, Massachusetts and live on indiana Avenue in Trailer Estates. They have lived here since 1985, although they purchased investment properties and vacationed in Trailer Estates for several years before moving.

  Pat was the model for the famous Hasbro Toys, GI Joe Doll.   While Pat served as a First Class Petty Officer in the Navy from 1940 to 1945; his navel career had very little to do with being selected for the GI Joe model. Pat learned to scuba dive while in the service and continued his diving in civilian life
  One day, Pat was scuba diving in Nahant, Massachusetts and caught the eye of a local artist and illustrator. by the name of Eiseman This illustrator used to watch Pat scuba dive from his living room in his waterfront home.

While inquiring about Pat, Mr. Eiseman learned from a local that Pat was also a Parachute Jump Master at Parachutes Incorporated in orange.  That
information turned on a light bulb in his mind.   Eiseman had already tried to market his idea for a doll for boys and received very little interest from the toy companies.

After watching Pat, Mr Eiseman got a great marketing idea.  He decided to photograph Pat parachuting from the sky and market the photos for a GI Joe doll for boys.    Mr. Eiseman not only photographed Par jumping out of a plane. floating through the sky, landing on the ground, but even hung Pat and his chute from a wire on his living room ceiling and photographed him in many exciting poses.  Pat suited up in full scuba gear and photos were taken of him on the beach, which Mr Eiseman thought would appeal to small boys.  These macho photos of Pat Gorham met tile approval of the toy company executives and thus. the GI Joe Doll was created for boys.

Although Pat has a scar on his chin, the creators of GI Joe thought it didn't look macho enough, 50 GI Joe's were given a deep scar on his left cheek.  Pat was about 35 years old at the time he was the G1 Joe model

  He started parachute jumping as a hobby after reading about the sport in Sports Illustrated Magazine.  Pat loved the sport and became an instructor and taught several famous people including astronaut Jeff Hoffrnan, Sam Beers, the assistant to President Kennedy, and even an ex WW2 Prisoner of War.

  Pat courageously tested parachutes for the Orange Sport Parachute Center He would jump with three chutes on his back, testing two new designs Pat would open one at a time to test their ability and endurance and then would cut away one at a time, finally landing safely with his third trusty chute.   Pat was also in demand as a stunt man landing in Boston Commons for the
premiere of the movie, Red Command.  He was sought after for company functions and parachuted into a party dressed as Bat Man along with his sidekick Robin.  Pat also landed in Las Vegas and California via parachute dressed as Santa Claus