3 Packing Parachutes

Packing Parachutes.

Charles Plumb, and yes that was his name, 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 Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now is part of the lecture scene speaking of the lessons learned from his dreadful experience.

One day, he and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "Your 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 would not 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 shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his
hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now I wonder who is packing my parachute?  Have you asked yourself if you pack any parachutes? We all have those who look to us for support.