News-Info-Alerts

Re: Who's Packing Your Parachute

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: August 21, 2003

"IN OTHER WORDS: Do you know who's packing your parachute?

By LARRY P. JORDAN, T&D Correspondent

Have you smiled today? Or have you been like me, in a sour mood? I don't like to admit it but some days I'm up and some days I'm down, and until I got home and read my e-mail, this day was definitely a "downer." I have friends who send cheery notes and jokes but every once in a while I get one that gets my attention. Today I got a "thinker," one that I couldn't just pass over with the usual chuckle. It was a 2x4 between the eyes.

Titled "Packing Your Parachute," it tells of Charles Plumb, a Navy fighter pilot who was shot down over Vietnam and spent six years of his life as a prisoner of war. He now shares his experiences on the lecture circuit. Plumb said that he and his wife were approached in a restaurant by a man who called him by name and said that he knew that Plumb had flown from the USS Kitty Hawk, was shot down and was captured.

When Plumb asked him how he knew that, the man said, "I packed your parachute. I guess it worked." Plumb responded that "it sure did or I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb said he couldn't sleep that night and wondered, "How many times have I seen this man on the ship and not even said 'Good Morning' because he was a sailor and I was a fighter pilot." Plumb went on to say that he began to wonder about those around him who touched his daily life and helped him in some way.

Well, I began to do the same thing. There are many who have touched my life -- some have saved it and some have just made it better than it would have been. I am well aware of the more dramatic ones, such as the doctor that decided to be on the safe side and give me a stress test. Eventually, the medics found that I had five blockages of over 90 percent, and I ended up with four bypasses. The surgeon didn't know why I was still alive. Well, I know! It was due to a flight surgeon I ran with every morning who said he took an aspirin every day though he was in excellent shape. He said, "I'm hedging my bets." Well, that was good enough for me, and since 1982, I have taken an aspirin every day. I'm not giving medical advice, but I truly believe that is the only reason I never had a heart attack. I may never see or speak to John again but he has my undying gratitude (no pun intended).

While on an exercise out of Key West, Fla., my crew was removed from a flight, and the aircraft and crew never came back. Call it fate or luck; in both cases, someone "packed my parachute."

On a regular basis there are people who touch our lives, and we find ourselves too busy to realize or take the time to acknowledge their contributions to our well being. I, for one, am going to make the effort to appreciate those "parachute packers," even if I don't have the opportunity to verbalize it to them. We all need to do a better job of recognizing who packed our parachutes.

T&D Correspondent Larry P. Jordan can be reached by phone at 803-874-3276.

©2003, The Times and Democrat"