Charles Plumb was a US 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 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 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 he or
she needs 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 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
parachutes.
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 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 he or
she needs 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 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
parachutes.