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RE: Who packs your Parachute ??? ( Non LSR )

To: "'FastmetalBDF@aol.com'" <FastmetalBDF@aol.com>, land-speed@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Who packs your Parachute ??? ( Non LSR )
From: "Clay, Dale" <Dale.Clay@mdhelicopters.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 09:25:07 -0700
Thanks for sending that, very true.  It's too easy to overlook the "little
people" who make our lives what they are.

I just finished reading a book my dad lent me called "Caged Eagle."  It was
about, and co-authored by, Everett Alverez.  The longest held captive in
North Viet Nam, he was shot down on the very first airraid of the north.  A
very inspirational and emotional book.  

Dale C.


Subject: Who packs your Parachute ??? ( Non LSR )


> > >> > Charles Plumb, a U.S.  Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in
> > >> > Vietnam.  After 75 combat
> > >> > missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.
> > >> >
> > >> > Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands.
> > >> > He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison.
> > >> >
> > >> > He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from
that
> > >> > experience.
> > >> >
> > >> > One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a
man
> at
> > >> > another table came
> > >> > up and said, "You're Plumb!  You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from
> the
> > >> > aircraft carrier Kitty
> > >> > Hawk, You were shot down !  "
> > >> >
> > >> > "How in the world did you know that ?" asked Plumb.
> > >> >
> > >> > "I packed your parachute," the man replied.
> > >> >
> > >> > Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.
> > >> > The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked !  "
> > >> >
> > >> > Plumb assured him, "It sure did, If your chute hadn't worked, I
> > wouldn't
> > >> > be here today."
> > >> >
> > >> > Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man.  Plumb
> says,
> > >> > "I kept wondering what
> > >> > he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in
> the
> > >> > back, and bell-bottom
> > >> > trousers.  I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not
even
> > >> > said "Good morning,
> > >> > How are you?" or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot
and
> > he
> > >> > was just a sailor.
> > >> >
> > >> > Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long
wooden
> > >> > table in the bowels of
> > >> > the ship, carefully weaving the shroud lines and folding the silks
of
> > >> > each chute, holding in his
> > >> > hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.
> > >> >
> > >> > Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"
> > >> >
> > >> > Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through
> the
> > >> > day.
> > >> >
> > >> > Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when
> his
> > >> > plane was shot down
> > >> > over enemy territory - - - - - he needed his physical parachute,
his
> > >> > mental parachute, his
> > >> > emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute.  He called on all
> > >> > these supports before
> > >> > reaching safety.
> > >> >
> > >> > Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what
is
> > >> > really important.  We
> > >> > may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone
on
> > >> > something wonderful that
> > >> > has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice
> for
> > >> > no reason.
> > >> >
> > >> > As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize
people
> > who
> > >> > pack your
> > >> > parachute.


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