mysecretlife's blog post - Hope all is well

Good Morning

Just got in from work. Yesterday was a beautiful day. Piddled around at base all day. Washed the salt and grime off my truck. It was nice to be outside. The temp was a little cool but not so bad I had to wear a jacket. Everyone else was all bundled up but I guess I can tolerate the cold pretty good. Had leftovers from the night before when the kids were at the house for Christmas. The grandbabies were typical. Paper flying, get the toys and then play with the boxes. They were funny.

Last night we had a flight abot 10:00pm. Took a pregnant girl from a small hospital to a hospital in Louisville. She was in preterm labor so they wanted the baby born in a hospital capable of taking care of preterm infants. The baby was far enough along that more than likely he was going to be ok. I dread these flights because I just know one of these days they are not going to wait.

Flying out is always busy but the flights back are usually uneventful and that's the part I enjoy the most. Last night we had a bombers moon. So full and bright that you can see the ground and just about everything. I could see the shadow of the aircraft on the ground. I've always heard that's the type of moon the bomber pilots of WWII hated because they could be seen so easily. Last night I was thinking of a guy I met a few weeks ago. He was a bomber pilot during WWII. Even though he was nearly 95 he was still sharp and talked of the war a little. He talked about being stationed in England and the missions he flew over Germany. He talked a little about the German fighters that came after them. He never mentioned being scared but I can't imagine someone would not be. That was a bad time when ordinary people did great things. Most people are very lucky to have not known real fear. There are many types of fear. Most fear we experience in what I call spur of the moment fear. Near wrecks, being robbed or someone dear to you critically injured. But to get up in the morning knowing that you will be going into a place where there are determined people going to be trying to kill you. To me that takes real courage. I know law enforcement and firefighters have very dangerous jobs but to me being a soldier is a little different.

But not only the people in the air were afraid but the people on the ground had to be terrified. I have walked through bombed areas and I know I would not want to be in the middle of one.

War is such a terrible thing. The thing that really gets me is that the people that start them are not the people that fight them. I had an uncle that served in Europe. He was probably one of the baddest men I ever knew. He was a rough character, I mean hard. But on occasion he would talk about his experiences. But it would not do you any good to ask him anything. He only told you what he was ready to say. He once was in a real talkitive mood and he told me many things. He said probably the worst he ever felt was when he had another man in his sights and pulled the trigger and watched him fall. He did say he was afraid. He was afraid for himself and for the guy he shot.

After talking to that pilot I asked him if I could come back and talk to him again sometime. He said sure and I really did want to. He died last week. While I was at his home his wife showed me a picture of him with his plane and his crew. She said he was the last one left of the 8 men in the photo. You could see she was sad because she knew his health was failing and soon would be gone as well.

Time doesn't wait for you to go do something. If you want to do or see something and have the chance you better do it. I regret some of the things I have done but have more regrets about what I wanted to do and didn't. Sometimes you just have to make an opportunity rather than wait for one.

I know this is super long and I ramble sometimes. Just hope everyone has a good day and be careful. Do something you enjoy or have wanted to do before long.

Take Care.
T