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YES...
There really is a Panama Jones


Winston (Panama Jones) Rice was born feet first in Fort Leavenworth Kansas in 1946. His mother and father were native Oklahomans from Clarita, Oklahoma in Coal County. His father was a career Air force officer and pilot and retired with 23 years service. So, like father, like son, Win enlisted in the Army in 1964 at the age 17 and after his military training including infantry training, jump school and Parachute Rigger school, he was stationed in France in 1965. In fact he was one of the last Americans to leave France to Germany in January 1967.

By the time he was discharged in 1967 he was a sergeant and a paratrooper with nearly 100 jumps to his credit. In fact, he made sergeant before his 20th birthday and was discharged before he was 21. He had also gotten his high school diploma and nearly a year of college during his off time. After a year of civilian life and no excitement, Win re-enlisted in the Army as a corporal and in less that 3 months had gotten his sergeant stripes back. He was assigned to an airborne unit in Panama in 1969.

Win served three tours of duty in Panama. As a paratrooper an extreme adventurer on his off time, Win has to his credit over 600 parachute jumps, many of them in Panama. In fact, on December 22, 1972 he was involved in setting a world record parachute jump in which nine skydivers jumped over Albrook Air Force Base and formed a 9-way formation and Win swooped into the formation ninth. Then, they re-packed their parachutes and formed another 9-way formation at France Field (on the Atlantic coast) 2 hours later with Win swooping in ninth again. That's two 9-way formations, back-to-back, coast-to-coast in less than 2 hours... try that anywhere else in the world.

During his time in Panama, Win achieved a Master FAA Parachute Rigger license at the age of 23. At the time the requirement was to have 5 years experience as a rigger to even apply for the rating. Win was the youngest person ever to achieve this rating, and was the only licensed Master FAA Rigger in Central and South America. So for part time work, Win made extra money packing and maintaining parachutes for sport parachute clubs throughout Central and South America. Parachutes and equipment were mailed to him in Panama where he performed the work and then it was mailed back to the customer.

While a paratrooper in Panama, Win worked with the Panamanian Army as a parachute rigger and made many high-altitude training parachute jumps with them. As a result, he was awarded the Panama master parachutist wings. From 1969 - 1979, Win was sent back to the states to serve as as a Parachute rigger and jump school instructor at Fort Benning, Georgia and another time as a rigger school instructor at Ft. Lee Virginia. But he always managed to make it back to Panama. Tropical weather seemed to agree with him.

Other adventures in Panama included scuba diving, treks across the isthmus, fishing, searching for artifacts, and exploring here and there in many nooks and crannies of Panama. This is where he first met the Emberá Indians in the Darien Region of Panama and became intrigued with this culture. He would later return to Panama after the ousting of Manuel Noriega to establish an adventure tourism company.

After being injured in a parachute jump, Win was reclassified and taken off jump status. A career change to information specialist and combat photographer was the choice and proved valuable during the Panama Canal treaty in which the Panama Canal was handed over to Panama. During that time Win served as bilingual escort for several notable dignitaries and news media reporters. He was also editor of the Southern Command Newspaper in Panama. In 1978, Win was transferred to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana to complete development courses for his new career field. After a year and a half and no excitement, Win applied for duty in Alaska, where his parents and a sister and family were living. He was stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska near Anchorage and was editor of an Army newspaper until his military career was completed.

After about a year and a half AND NO EXCITEMENT, Win took an early medical retirement and moved to the Kenai Peninsula. Win wanted a change of lifestyle so he began as an apprentice in a small cabinet shop learning the cabinet making trade. Before long he was working full time and enjoying that high Alaskan pay. Here he met Linda and her two children. Later they were married bought an old homestead complete with cabin and began an adventure living in the wilds of Alaska. During the next 5 years, they lived in the cabin and built a cabinet shop where they constructed everything from kitchen cabinets to custom furniture of all sorts.

During this time, not a day went by that Panama was not on Win's mind. Many a long cold winter night was spent telling stories to wide-eyed kids and a wife about a previous lifetime in Panama. After several winters and a severe case of cabin fever, they begin to plan a strategy of returning to the lower 48 and developing a tour company with tours to both Alaska and to Panama. The biggest problems were; no money, no tourism experience,... and Manuel Noriega.

In 1987, Win, Linda, and three children moved to Win's home town of Clarita, Oklahoma, a community of less than 60 people. They opened a small cabinet shop and began building cabinets and furniture and wait for the fall of Manuel Noriega.

After about a year and a half AND NO EXCITEMENT, Win and Linda begin planning and putting together ideas to return to Panama and develop some sort of tourism business. The handwriting was on the wall for Manuel Noriega and Christmas on 1989, Americans liberated Panama. Win and Linda continued to plan and in June of 1992 they visited Panama to see how practical their plan would be. After a 15 day trip, the returned to Oklahoma and set the plan into action.

The first year they attracted only 3 tourists. So needless to say, they didn't quit their day job in the cabinet shop. So additional planning and strategizing continued. Win took advantage of the GI bill and got a bit more education in the tourism trade, computer and internet technology. This was really before internet advertising was popular, so selecting the right media was critical. However, in short time, and after additional computer training from their kids, things begin to develop. A domain name was purchased and a website developed and business begin to grow. The domain name selected was panamacanal.com.

As the business grew over the years, it became necessary to establish an office in Panama to receive the tourists they were sending. Win and long time friends worked together in developing tourism programs to historic locations in Panama as well as to several rainforests and cloud forests. The most exciting and rewarding project was working with the Emberá Indians on the Chagres River helping them develop and new lifestyle through tourism. Max Pinzon, an old friend, who was exiled during the Noriega years and living in Oklahoma City helped Win and Linda with the earling planning of the adventure tour company. The company named for Win's nick name (Panama Jones) was estrablished in 1997.

Win and Linda continue to coordinate tours to Panama form their U.S. office in Clarita, Oklahoma. Win makes frequent trips to the Panama Jones office in Panama to assist the staff there and personally guides his fiavorite tours.

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