Charlie Plumb, is a graduate of the Naval Academy, former Navy Fighter Pilot captain and an ex-POW. On his 75th mission, with five days before he was to return home, his plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, resulting in his capture and torture. He spent a total of 2,103 days in an 8 x 8 foot cell as a POW in North Vietnamese prison camps.
During the nearly six years of captivity, he distinguished himself by devising creative methods of underground communication, enabling he and his fellow POW’s to resist their captors and support one another. He also served for two years as the camp chaplain.
When we was released from captivity he found himself several years later eating dinner in a restaurant with his wife when a stranger came up to him 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!”
Captain 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.”
Captain Plumb experienced the realization that there are countless people that have had an impact on our lives that we may never know. As we go through our days, asking, “Who packs my parachute?” may help us be aware of those around us whose contributions to our lives may otherwise go unnoticed or unappreciated.
You may have heard or read about a notable example of this gratitude for those whose contributions to our lives are often times overlooked when Los Angeles Rams Wide Receiver Brandin Cooks paid for the flight and tickets of a team custodian to attend the Super Bowl in Atlanta.
Take a moment this week to think about who those people may be and what you or your student-athletes can do to thank them.