Charles Plumb was a U.S. 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 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, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your

parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what

they need to make it through the day.

Plumb 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 parachute. I am

sending you this as my way of thanking you for your

part in packing my parachute !!! And I hope you will

send it on to those who have helped pack yours!

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes

to us without writing a word? Maybe this could explain:

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch,

guess what you do? You forward jokes.

And to let you know that you are still remembered, you

are still important, you are still loved, you are still

cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke.

So next time, if you get a joke, don't think that you've

been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've

been thought of today and your friend on the other end

of your computer wanted to send you a smile.

Thanks for packing my parachute!