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Parachute
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.
I am sending you this as my way of thanking you
for your part
in packing my parachute!!!
And I hope you will send it on to those who have
helped pack yours!
Have a great day!
Charles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Acadamy graduate
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