Giffords successfully skydives

TUCSON, Ariz. – Gabrielle Giffords marked the three-year anniversary of an attack that left her severely wounded and forced her to resign from Congress by skydiving Wednesday in a feat that highlights her ongoing recovery after having to learn how to walk and talk again.

Across the city, others gathered for bell-ringing and flag-raising ceremonies to remember the six killed and 13 injured, including Giffords, on Jan. 8, 2011, as the former Arizona congresswoman met with constituents outside a grocery store.

Giffords waved and blew kisses to a crowd at a skydiving site between Phoenix and Tucson after successfully landing without injury.

“Gabby landed beautifully. Happy she’s safe. So proud of her bravery,” Giffords’ husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, wrote on his Twitter account after the tandem jump with his wife strapped to a professional skydiver.

Jimmy Hatch, a former Navy SEAL who accompanied Giffords along with others, said the group held hands and formed a circle shortly after exiting the aircraft, then made a line with Giffords in the middle.

“She was the least nervous person on the plane,” Hatch said, calling Giffords a “rock star” for making the jump on such an emotional day.

“They did a little moment of silence at the drop zone,” he said. “The emotion was really heavy. Then she smiled and said, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

Giffords’ jump will be broadcast today on NBC’s “Today” show.