Welcome to the forums
I can't help you with the respawn bit because I've never made a mp mission, just read this forum or check in the editors depot they will tell you about that somewhere, but for parachutes you need to camcreate them up in the air if I remember right,
_chute = "parachute" camcreate [x,y,z]
then move the respawned guy into it
unitname moveindriver _chute