Space A Travel, September 2013
Travel by Space A military Stand-by is proving to be a challenge, yesterday while filled with enthusiasm, on the New Jersey turnpike heading south, I emailed friends and family that with "luck and a good tail wind" we would be by nightfall winging our way to Ramstein, Germany. After spending five hours waiting at Baltimore Washington Airport for a stand-by flight, and today driving back to NJ to McGuire AF base and waiting 2 hours for a flight, I'm less "excited" about the prospect of flying Space A, perhaps the A stands for Absent, as in seats. Tomorrow there is another flight from McGuire, after that perhaps it will be up to the "Expedia" gurus to get us to Paris for Saturday.
Meanwhile we are making the best of an interesting situation, last evening we stayed in our favorite hotel in Annapolis and this morning we toured the Annapolis Naval Academy. Wow, it was amazing with grand architecture, manicured grounds, and thousands (4400) of trim young men and women scurrying about. We toured the Lejeune Physical Center, home to an indoor size Olympic pool, mile long track, and wrestling gym, Dahlgren Hall the oldest building on the campus, Bancroft Hall the largest dormitory in the US (housing 4400 cadets, (with 4 miles of corridors), the Chapel dedicated in 1908 and sporting resplendent Tiffany and Gorham Studio stain glass windows, and last but not least the Crypt of John Paul Jones who was exhumed from an unmarked grave in PARIS from under a store front in 1905, after 6 years of searching! Just how much do you think that that cost the American taxpayers, do you even remember what war(s) John Paul Jones fought in?????
We've been blessed to meet many fellow Space A travelers, one couple who we met last night in BWI, and had dinner with tonight at Mc Guire, hail from Mobile, Al and they are trying to get to Rome for the Ordination of a friend's son. Ann the wife of the retired Army gentleman is an artist who renders images of lovely sea denizens (www.calagazart.com.) Last night Ann observed the distress of a young mother with tiny child who didn't get to board in BWI, Ann inquired of the USO attendant why the mom was so upset and after finding out that the mom had no money and couldn't get back to Germany to her husband until at least the next flight on Sat, Ann gave the attendant $100 to give to the young woman. Human Acts of kindness. Fellow travelers are a collection of Active Duty, dependents of active duty and retired military, as Kurt is retired USAF, we are in Cat. 6 the last group of passengers to fill open seats. If we are lucky enough to get a seat tomorrow, we will be on a cargo jet that will eventually deliver supplies to Afghanistan, certainly gives me a different perspective. It is humbling to be among the young men and women, and military families, when I think about the sacrifices that each of them makes so I can live with the freedoms I so take for granted. Tonight finds us billeted in a Base Hotel that is as nice as any I have ever stayed in, it is 2200 and with the window open I just heard Taps being played.........
Day is Done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.
Fading light, dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright,
From afar, drawing night, falls the night.
Thanks and praise, for our days,
'Neath the sun, "neath the stars, 'neath the sky;
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.
Sun has set, shadows come,
Time has fled, Scouts much go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made.
While the light fades from the sight,
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
To they hands we our souls, Lord commend.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
September 26, 2013
September 26, 2013
POW's and flight from Dover
While awaiting a flight from JB MDL (Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakhurst) I perused a base newspaper with the headlines "JB MDL honors Vietnam POW's, this summer fourteen former Vietnam-era prisoners of war gathered for the opening of the Vietnam POW wing of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society's Historical Hanger 1 Museum. They commemorated the 40 year anniversary of the first flight of Operation Homecoming which commenced on February 12, 1973 on a C-141 Starlifter transport jet, later dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, that lifted off from Hanoi, North Vietnam, with 40 U.S. POW's to begin their journey home.
On board that flight and present for the ceremony at JBMDL was Retired Rear Adm. Robert Shumaker who on February 11, 1965 while piloting a F-S Crusader off the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea and participating in operation Flaming Dart II, was shot down over Dong Hoi, North Vietnam. He became the second Navy aviator to be captured and for the next eight years was held in various prisoner of war camps, including the infamous Hoa Lo complex in Hanoi for which Shumaker created the name, "Hanoi Hilton." Three of those years he endured solitary confinement, much of the time clamped in leg irons. What incredible strength and fortitude all of the young POW's demonstrated during those long war years. May there be a special place in Heaven for all our young men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms.
Thurs. morning the Space A travel saga continues as it was posted on the ANC travel page on Facebook that there are 56 seats available on a plane out of Dover, Delaware. A two hour road trip brought us to the sprawling Dover AFB where we met several other retired Military travelers who were at BWI and McGuire and are also seeking the holy grail of flights to Ramstein. Roll call was posted at 16:41, now moved to 17:41 with a flight time of 23:04. I have multiple layers of down vestments, a scarf and packages of nonperishable food stuffs for the flight on a C-5 (the largest cargo plane that America has) that is likely to have limited heat and accoutrements. I need only to think about the thousands of soldiers who have been ferried to war zones on these unadorned birds, to quell any thoughts of complaint that might be welling in my breast. I have nothing to complain about, indeed this is turning into an journey of unexpected enlightenment, something to be grateful for.
I'm reticent to say that it looks promising........just as I begin to think that this might work, passengers from a flight bound for Spain have disembarked for the third time due to "mechanical" problems on the plane. Did I mention that the C-5's are almost as old (early 1970's) as the Category VI passengers!!!!!
POW's and flight from Dover
While awaiting a flight from JB MDL (Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakhurst) I perused a base newspaper with the headlines "JB MDL honors Vietnam POW's, this summer fourteen former Vietnam-era prisoners of war gathered for the opening of the Vietnam POW wing of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society's Historical Hanger 1 Museum. They commemorated the 40 year anniversary of the first flight of Operation Homecoming which commenced on February 12, 1973 on a C-141 Starlifter transport jet, later dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, that lifted off from Hanoi, North Vietnam, with 40 U.S. POW's to begin their journey home.
On board that flight and present for the ceremony at JBMDL was Retired Rear Adm. Robert Shumaker who on February 11, 1965 while piloting a F-S Crusader off the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea and participating in operation Flaming Dart II, was shot down over Dong Hoi, North Vietnam. He became the second Navy aviator to be captured and for the next eight years was held in various prisoner of war camps, including the infamous Hoa Lo complex in Hanoi for which Shumaker created the name, "Hanoi Hilton." Three of those years he endured solitary confinement, much of the time clamped in leg irons. What incredible strength and fortitude all of the young POW's demonstrated during those long war years. May there be a special place in Heaven for all our young men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms.
Thurs. morning the Space A travel saga continues as it was posted on the ANC travel page on Facebook that there are 56 seats available on a plane out of Dover, Delaware. A two hour road trip brought us to the sprawling Dover AFB where we met several other retired Military travelers who were at BWI and McGuire and are also seeking the holy grail of flights to Ramstein. Roll call was posted at 16:41, now moved to 17:41 with a flight time of 23:04. I have multiple layers of down vestments, a scarf and packages of nonperishable food stuffs for the flight on a C-5 (the largest cargo plane that America has) that is likely to have limited heat and accoutrements. I need only to think about the thousands of soldiers who have been ferried to war zones on these unadorned birds, to quell any thoughts of complaint that might be welling in my breast. I have nothing to complain about, indeed this is turning into an journey of unexpected enlightenment, something to be grateful for.
I'm reticent to say that it looks promising........just as I begin to think that this might work, passengers from a flight bound for Spain have disembarked for the third time due to "mechanical" problems on the plane. Did I mention that the C-5's are almost as old (early 1970's) as the Category VI passengers!!!!!
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