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Praetorium Honoris

Monday, October 4, 2021

Convergence

 So...A couple of weeks ago, I happened to be surveying the vastness of Rancho Juvat looking for things that might be about to go awry. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bit of motion.  Whipping out my memory device (some folks use it for communicating, I use it for memory assistance e.g. calendars, notes,  voice notes, and in this case, pictures) and snapped a quick pic of the culprit.


A quite skinny, if vocal, cat.  That evening at dinner, we had the Traditional New Member of the Family Formal Naming Ceremony.  Committee members were Myself, as the Decision Maker, Mrs J as the Override Judge, DIL (hadn't left for Honk-Honk! yet) and a Friend of hers who was visiting, were the remaining committee members.

I explained the procedures (there are none) and the nominating process began.  Cat, Kitty, Puddy Tat were quickly nominated and eliminated.  At that point, DIL's Friend said "Chairman Mao" (Contrary to popular belief the Dead Chinese Dictator's name is evidently pronounced MEE-Ow. Who knew?).

The nomination was instantaneously confirmed by a unanimous round of laughter.

Chairman Mao seems to have taken up residence in the horse barn, which is fine by me as long as she earns her keep by keeping mice at bay.  However, she takes her evening meal on our back patio.

Regarding Outside Cats, this appeared on PowerLine this Saturday.  I believe it to be completely accurate.


Also a couple of weeks ago, I had written that I had had an excellent Medal of Honor post in mind when I noticed that one of the sources I found happened to be a post written by myself.  However in the Military.Com article I cited there was reference to a book written by the recipient's, Henry "Red" Erwin, grandson.  

So, me being me, I went to Amazon and purchased "Beyond Valor: A World War II Story of Extraordinary Heroism, Sacrificial Love, and a Race against Time ".  

For those not familiar, I'll synopsize the story. Sergeant Erwin was a radio operator in a B-29 late in WWII in the Pacific.  On April 12, 1945, he was in the Lead B-29 in an attack on Mainland Japan.  That B-29's mission was to find the target and then mark it by dropping phosphorous bombs on it.  Other B-29s would then use that mark to drop their bombs.  Unfortunately, when Sergeant Erwin dropped the bomb through a special chute, it came back up and started burning inside the aircraft.  It produced so much smoke that the pilot, 30' forward of Sergeant Erwin, could not see the instruments to fly the airplane and it started into a descent towards the ground.  Sergeant Erwin knew that the aircraft was doomed if the bomb continued to burn, so he picked it up, tucked it under his arm and made his way forward to the cockpit where he threw it out the cockpit window before collapsing.  The crew wraps him in blankets to suffocate the burning phosphorous (which ignites in the presence of Oxygen and burns at 1000+o) and diverts to Iwo Jima, fully expecting that the Sergeant would die.  General LeMay approves the Medal of Honor for him, and it's confirmed via radio-telegram by President Truman within 6 hours of LeMay becoming aware of the episode.  It was presented to Sergeant Erwin on Iwo Jima, still with the expectation he would not survive.  

Source

He passed away in 2002.

The book goes into much more detail on the episode and I heartily recommend reading the book.  I also advise keeping a box of Kleenex handy.  But aside from the unbelievable bravery and self-sacrifice of Sergeant Erwin, two things stood out.  The first was his belief, as the episode is ongoing, that the Lord had a plan for his crew and it didn't involve them dying.  The second occurred during his long recovery in the hospital (40+ surgeries and 3 years), that the Lord had a destiny in mind for him after the war and his actions on the plane forged him for that destiny.

It's an excellent book.  I highly recommend it.  It also talks a lot about the state of the war at that point and problems and solutions and, very much, is descriptive of the horrors of war. It's a tough book to read, but well worth the effort. Evidently, there's a movie being made from it.  Not sure if I'm strong enough to watch that.

That destiny thing?  I've been thinking about my destiny for a long time, well before I learned of Sergeant Erwin. I had believed for a very long time (maybe back to grade school), that I would become a Fighter Pilot.  So much so that when it came time for College, the only place I applied was the Air Force Academy.  Got a nomination and while waiting for the acceptance letter, a couple of friends who were going to Texas Tech tried to talk me into applying there also.  To get them off  my back, I wrote a letter asking for a catalog and admittance requirements, but no application forms.

A short while later, I got a letter from the Academy.  Unfortunately.....

I'm fairly down in the dumps and wondering about my "destiny".  A couple of weeks go by and HS Graduation nears, I finally get a letter from Texas Tech.  Opening it, it begins with "...congratulations on having met the high academic standards for admission..."  I hadn't sent them a transcript or any other information other than the catalog request.

Source


Long story short, I enrolled.  That was THE turning point in my life, and I've always wondered about it looking back.  What would I do different, if I could do it again, that sort of thing.

Anyhow....

My Dad told me to enroll in ROTC to offset the cost of a degree.  I did, got a scholarship and managed to be in the top two graduates in my graduation year. Which was a good thing, since Texas Tech AFROTC only got two pilot slots, because Jimmuh was President and we were going to cut the military.  

So, I went to Pilot Training, graduated high enough to get a fighter from a UPT class where everyone was a distinguished graduate from ROTC, Went to Kunsan AB (probably met Sarge in line at the BX or Barbershop), went to Moody where I became a somewhat competent Fighter Pilot and met the woman who would be my Wife.

But still I puzzled over why it took so much hoop-jumping to get to this point in life.  This last Sunday, I think I had an insight.  The Gospel was from Mark 10:2-16 . This is the passage about Marriage and Divorce.  Heard it a gazillion times.  However, this time the Pastor, in his sermon highlighted this passage:

 Jesus replied.  “But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female." (emphasis mine).  

The Pastor's point was not that God made male and female, (he did), but Jesus had used the terms to mean the Man and Woman in the marriage he'd used as an example. That God had made THEM specifically for each other, and had, since the beginning of time, always intended for them to be married.

I'm going to take that as an explanation of all the actions, decisions, ups and downs that got me to the Crud Table at the Moody Officer's club on Friday, January 9th 1981, serving the cue ball against a lovely young female LT, who promptly smacked the object ball into a corner pocket.  Said action gave me the opportunity/requirement to buy her a drink.

Source


Life has been excellent ever since.  Just took me 40+ years to figure out that the Lord has wanted us together for a VERY long time and it just took a couple off bounces of the billiard rails to finish getting me where he wanted me to be. Everything before that was just positioning.


Peace out, y'All!




28 comments:

  1. Greater love hath no man....etc.

    They used 4 engines because 2 were needed for the plane, fuel, bombload and crew, and two more for the enormous bronze mounted cast iron cojones those guys carried.

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  2. Can't imagine the pain that Sergeant Erwin went through....."Excuse me sir"?!?....Impressed with the photographic evidence from the 40 years ago First Contact (as friend once described meeting his future wife). A very solid post juvat, mucho gracias.

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    1. I see you've read the book. For those who haven't, as he was passing through the compartment behind the cockpit where the Mission Commander was positioned (on fire and carrying the bomb), he said "Excuse me, Sir" very politely to him. Pretty sure any other human being would have said something along the lines of "GTFOMWDA!"

      Unfortunately, cameras weren't invented that long ago, so photographic records are only visible in my mind.

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  3. Great post. Sgt Erwin definitely clanked when he walked.

    Nice tale of "how I got here," what I like to call an "origins" post.

    So the guys playing crud, the guy on the right with the beard, A-10 pilot?

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    1. Yes, yes he is, but for the good guys, not no stinkin' commies!

      ;-)

      Thanks

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  4. "Are you going to church today?" Mom said. I was stationed on the Willy R. (USS William R. Rush DD-714) and was home for a weekend liberty.
    I said, "Well Mom, I have to drive back to the ship tonight, and I don't want to crash on the Jersey Turnpike. I think I will sleep in."
    Mom thought for a few seconds and then said, "There's a new family in church, they have a daughter that's shorter than you, has long brown hair, wears glasses, (Mom paused for a breath) and she has a nice body."
    The girl and I have been married for just over 42 years.

    I wonder about the long chain of life events that all came together in a lot of lives and I do think there was a hand on the wheel.

    When Mom was still living I related that story on a bunch of occasions, Mom always denied adding the comment about the nice body, but she did say it, and I bet she knew that if you are fishing, then you need to bait the hook with the right bait.

    I read about Sergeant Erwin years and years ago, and as Nylon112 said, I cannot even imagine.

    Thank you for a great post and for sharing your romance story.


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    1. I brought a few ladies home to meet the folks over the years. Mom never said a word one way or another about any of them, until I brought the last one home. Mom took about an hour to say "You may marry this one." I'm glad she did as I'd already made that decision.

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  5. I read about Sgt Erwin back when I was in grade school back in the early 70's. I was in awe of what he did and that he actually survived the incident. I was the weird one in school. In the time of the country coming out of Vietnam and the lack of respect for the military, I was the one reading books on Patton and the Marines in the Pacific/Korea/Vietnam.

    Congrats on the newest addition to the Rancho. Chairman Meow looks like a lean sleek mouse killer!

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    1. I didn't mention what he did after he got (mostly) out of the hospital. He worked for the VA as a patient's rights rep. Helping other injured Vets get the care and benefits they deserved. Never give up, never surrender!

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  6. Juvat, thank you for sharing Sgt. Erwin's story. It is good to remember that heroes still walked - and walk - among us.

    Long life and health to Chairman Mao!

    I have my own "Destiny is not where you are going, but how you got there" realization. I went back to graduate school with the intention I had when I left undergraduate: join the Foreign Service. I was smart, I was motivated, I was educated (would be more so after I got that fancy degree!), and I liked to travel. Washing out at the group interview portion of the process I still rate as one of the five greatest disappointments of my life, and I have had a fair amount in the 30 years or so since then. It was devastating - so devastating, I never went down that route again.

    But...in the course of going to graduate school, I needed a job. With my job, I worked near a deli where a very cute young lady offered me a cookie because I was feeling down (had to break up with the then-girlfirend). The rest, as they say, is a tale of pathos and adventure largely disguised as an ordinary life.

    Which pretty much demonstrates to me how precisely gigantic God's sense of humor is.

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    1. TB,

      Yes, they do. It's not only "Good to remember" they MUST be remembered.

      The Lord really does have a great sense of humor, doesn't he?

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  7. Good stuff Juvat. I'm a lot like Coffee Man, I was always in the right corner of Stubb's library. That's where the history books were, and I read every WW1, WW2 and Korea book they had. Multiple times. It was fascinating. I remember reading about Sgt. Erwin. And I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, too. "If you have the faith like a mustard seed..."



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    1. Dad was stationed at Webb AFB in Big Spring when I was in 5th Grade through HS Graduation. If I wasn't at the Swimming Pool, I was at the Base Library. (The Library Call Number for WWII books is 918.XXX. Memory is a strange thing) It wasn't much of a social life, but it was the one I had.

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  8. All the way up to the cockpit? Wow, who would think of that or know for sure that that was the only way to open up something to throw the bomb out. Stories of heroism like this one stir up the imagination and to visualize such a thing is horrific.
    Great men and women served in those times and in other times since. I pray that going forward, there will be men and women equal to the task of what is to come. I feel helpless sometimes when I find myself unable to get out of the chair! I think of climbing up the retractable stairs on the Phantom in the appropriate FP garb and simply, without effort, sitting down in the office. Of course, there's more to me now.
    Thanks for the post. It's good to have people still thinking about the heroes of the past. I pray we learn from this story.

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    1. Yeah, He had to get through the Navigator's compartment in which the Navigator's work table was lowered. Completely blind at this point from phosphorous particles in his eyes, he reaches under the table with his left arm, finds the latch holding the table in place and lifts it out of the way. He then proceeds into the cockpit to throw the bomb out the window. All while completely blinded. Fortunately, he did recover sight in his left eye eventually.

      Yep, Those were the days. Climbing the boarding ladder, now? YGBSM!

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  9. As to the cat, wonder if he/she will leave you gifts from said mice around. And if the certain gifts will be from the mice mouths. You know, Mao'sies tounges?

    As to wife material, I had two doomed relationships before meeting Mrs. Andrew. One was just using me for, well, sex (high school randiness and all that) and the other was looking for a ball-less pet. Fortunately, during gaming, the odd girl across the table from me wasn't feeling well that day and I helped her feel better. Then after a night of her rolling natural 20s off of my forehead, I knew something was up. Ditched the one who wanted me to be a eunuch and life got far much better suddenly.

    Mrs. Andrew was the only person I've ever met until meeting some people in the SCA that actually cared about... me. And my feelings. And cared unconditionally. After, what, 35 years or more of being together, I am content if the only person I deal with all day long is Mrs. Andrew. (Though having all you people out there is veddy veddy nice.)

    Great post.

    As to Sergeant Erwin, yeah, wow. LeMay may have been an arse-hole, but he was a good arse-hole. 7 hour turnaround time with a MOH. That Sgt. Erwin deserved. As a gift to a dying soul. Wonder how much that helped Erwin survive the pain? And another book I need to read.

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    1. I think you'll like it Beans. Especially the part where his wife sees him for the first time after the incident.

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    2. And that right there is the break moment. Is the relationship based upon surface and shallow concepts, or do the partners see deep into each other's souls.

      I have to admit. Neither Mrs. Andrew nor I are anywhere near the classic examples of even 'Okay' body looks and shapes. Rode hard and run over, literally in Mrs. Andrew's case, and put up wet. With issues. Yet she can look at me and almost tell exactly what I'm thinking. And I can look at her and see almost exactly what's wrong, body-wise, with her. And we see each other as beautiful. Deep stuff. Our love still grows.

      Wish more people would put time into their relationships rather than just dealing with surface stuff.

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    3. Beans - time in relationships. What a concept. Today everyone needs instant gratification, honor, food, etc.

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    4. Beans,
      Why is it she expects me to read her mind, but I can't and I don't expect her to read mine, but she can? An enduring question.

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    5. D4,
      You hit the nail on the head again, Dave.

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  10. Both great stories, for slightly different reasons...

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  11. I enjoyed the part about you and your wife being destined. I know my life has God's hands all over it too, of which I am truly blessed.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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