Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy 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 six 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. Plumbs
says, "I kept wondering what he had 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 at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship,
carefully weaving the shrouds 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. He 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 up, 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 parachutes.
Used with permission from Captain Charlie Plumb, Calabasas CA
91302
Copyright
Packing Parachutes - Excerpt from chapter 16 by Charlie Plumb
www.charlieplumb.com
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