Smitty stopped in today

[chuck j]

I work in an automotive service business , been there for 32 years . I have many older clients , some have come in ever since I have been there and we are servicing there grandchildren now . It's always rewarding when a young person comes in and says ; My Paw Paw told me to come here and no where else , dang ....3 generations .........just makes you feel good . But that's not the story here .

Smitty has been a regular customer all the time I have worked here . He was born in (Edit, sorry was in a hurry) !928 .........................yea do the math ! He was a WW 2 vet , flew a PB Y float plane in the Air Force picking up survivors of B 17's that ditched in the Pacific campaign . He's sharp as a tack and dig this folks ..He still drives an armored truck ! LOL , matter of fact he pulls overtime because the young folks call in sick so much . He is a great guy , raised a good family ( I know because they come in too) hard worker and honest as the day is long . He came in today and talked for around an hour , he is honorable , honest , open with his love of GOD and speaks as a man should speak . My God , My God ! That we should be more like him ! (the deception) As I said , we talked about an hour and he said ; Are they finished yet ?

I said ; they were finished 45 min's ago .

He said ; OH ! I need to get out of the bay so someone else can get in ! I'm sorry !

I said ; I didn't tell you they were through because I want to talk to you , we don't see each other enough !

he said ; LOL , I agree ! What do I owe ?

Me ; Nothing and come back soon .

I intentional stalled him to 'consevate' a while , lol .

[C-dub]

Pretty cool when one gets a chance to talk to a good person like that. BTW, Army Air Corps back then in WWII.

[RogueUSMC]

Last minth there was an old guy walking by my table at the gun show with a bomber jacket on. I recognized the outfit as one of the ones that LeMay used in the firebombing. He was so proud that a youngster like me even knew about it. I opened google earth on my phone and showed him Tinian and the holes where they loaded Fatman and Little Boy. The guy couldn't stop talking. Sounded like he didn't find many to listen any more...sad really.

[Scott B.]

Pretty cool when one gets a chance to talk to a good person like that. BTW, Army Air Corps back then in WWII.

You're right and not really wrong...if there's a difference.

If you want to get into the weeds, the AAC was really the post WW1 ~ interwar period service. With WWII rapidly approaching, it was realized that the air component had to grow, and grow massively.

Reorganization shunted the US Air Corps to the side, structurally, and the US Army Air Forces came to be the dominate organizational force. After early 1942 the AC existed only as a subordinate element of the AAF. Mostly for training and support, with no combat forces. In comparison the AAF consisted of the 16 numbered Air Forces (and so much more).

Part of the confusion is explained by the growth rate. In 1939 the AC has about 21 thousand personnel. In the spring of 1944, the entire force had grown to a peak of 2.4 million. That kind of growth was pretty rough on the organizational charts.

The name Air Corps versus Army Air Forces is made all the more complicated by many WWII vets still referring to the Air Corps as their branch of service. It was what the enlistees/draftees knew growing up, the romance of the Air Corps. And, it was the what the core group of pre-war service guys knew. Besides, the AC names rolls off the tongue better.

Then in 1947 and the National Security Act solves the whole thing by giving us an officially separate USAF.

edit: [just in case there are any howls of protest or quotes from wikipedia--people get really wound up about this stuff--I'll quote from The Army Air Forces in World War II: VI Men and Planes (Office of Air Force History) ed by Craven and Cate.]

The Air Corps, after March 1942, continued to be the permanent statutory organization of the air arm, and the thus the principal component of the Army Air Forces. But the Office, Chief of Air Corps and the Air Force Combat Command were both abolished, their functions being assumed by AAF Headquarters. The dissolution of AFCC had been foretold soon after the outbreak of hostilities by developments which robbed it of any true function. Defense commands on the east and west coasts had been activated as theaters of operations, and the First and Fourth Air Forces had been assigned, respectively, to their control. Simultaneously, the Second and Third Air Forces found themselves committed primarily to a mission of training that was the concern of OCAC rather than of AFCC. The disbandment of the latter command eliminated at last the dual structure which had been a source of continuing confusion in the organization of the arm since 1935. pp 31 & 32

[The Annoyed Man]

chuck j, thanks for the story. I have had older men like that in my life. I think it is a requirement for a man, both for growing in the ways of the Lord, and for growing in general wisdom, to have at least one older man like that in his life. I've also found as I grow older a natural tendency of my own to want to pour into the lives of younger men, and I welcome it when younger guys seek me out.

I don't claim to be all wise, knowing, righteous. I'm just another messed up person, moving forward - as my pastor likes to say. But whatever I've learned, I'm willing to pass on. There is a modern parable that goes like this......... The river Jordan flows first into the Sea of Galilee, then out the other side, and then flows down to the Dead Sea, where it stops. The Sea of Galilee allows the waters of the Jordan to pass through. It holds onto none of it. And yet, the land surrounding it is rich, supporting many farms; and its waters are full of fish. It blesses all who come in contact with it. All the replenishment of nourishment that flows into it from the Jordan is either given up locally to the people who depend upon its waters in some way or other for their lives, or it flows south, to benefit others further downstream. The Sea of Galilee is 64 square miles in size (a little more than twice the size of DFW airport, to put it into perspective), with an average depth of 84 feet, and a maximum depth of 141 feet.

The Dead Sea is completely different. It is 233 square miles in size. It has an average depth 653 feet, and a maximum depth of 997. It is many, many times the size and depth of the Galilee. The fertile waters of the Jordan flow in, carrying the richness that flowed out of the Galilee, but it has no outlet and its waters are trapped. And yet, despite its huge size and the fact that it holds onto all the riches that flow into it, it is a dead place. It supports little or no life......in fact, it poisons life. Nothing can grow on its shores. It's primary use in ancient times was the production of mineral salts for embalming mummies.

A person should be modeling his life after Galilee, and not the Dead Sea. This is not a diatribe against wealth. The tiny Galilee is wealthy, and the enormous Dead Sea is poor. It is more about what we do with our lives and our resources......and there is more than one kind of wealth. Do we use what we accumulate to bless others like the Galilee, or do we hoard it like the Dead Sea? Two of the things we hopefully accumulate in life are wisdom and perspective. As we grow older, if we have been blessed enough to grow financially wealthy (as the Galilee is blessed), we should be grateful enough for it to support worthy charities with some of that wealth. If we have lived long enough to gain in wisdom and perspective, we should be joyfully sharing those things with people who are seeking them. And, by being such a person, you become a joy to be around.

My guess is that your friend Smitty is such a person, and for exactly those reasons. Instead of being spiritually poverty-stricken, he gladly shares the joy of the Lord with others; for it was given to him (he did not "earn" it) exactly as the waters of the Jordan flow into the Galilee, so it is not "his" to hold onto. Who is not blessed by holding such friendships as these? Furthermore, this is a parable for something else too.....

Jesus's friends and followers were blessed by him in the flesh....meaning, they could see, hear, and touch him. When he performed miracles or spoke so profoundly to their faces, it was easy for many to see him as more than just a normal man. Even those who hated him feared him because they recognized in him something greater than they. But for those who loved him, loving him was easy to do because he was right there among them. The disciple John is described as physically leaning against Jesus, close as brothers. But for those of us who come later, there is no physical presence which makes our faith easier to come by and to maintain. For this reason, we are called to individually put a face on Jesus—both for spiritual support to one another, and to be the face of Jesus to the world. Believers are commanded to be in community with one another for exactly this reason. A Christian who chooses to avoid community with his or her brothers and sisters in the faith is hamstringing his or her own spiritual experience, right out of the gate.

My own father is dead and gone, and he was not a believer anyway. I first came to the faith at age 41, 3 years after my father died. I have deliberately sought out the wisdom and friendship of older men in the church ever since then, and have been blessed in my life by more than one. Your friend Smitty sounds like such a man—a proper disciple of Jesus, wearing the face of Jesus for others. You are blessed to know him.

[chuck j]

chuck j, thanks for the story. I have had older men like that in my life. I think it is a requirement for a man, both for growing in the ways of the Lord, and for growing in general wisdom, to have at least one older man like that in his life. I've also found as I grow older a natural tendency of my own to want to pour into the lives of younger men, and I welcome it when younger guys seek me out.

I don't claim to be all wise, knowing, righteous. I'm just another messed up person, moving forward - as my pastor likes to say. But whatever I've learned, I'm willing to pass on. There is a modern parable that goes like this......... The river Jordan flows first into the Sea of Galilee, then out the other side, and then flows down to the Dead Sea, where it stops. The Sea of Galilee allows the waters of the Jordan to pass through. It holds onto none of it. And yet, the land surrounding it is rich, supporting many farms; and its waters are full of fish. It blesses all who come in contact with it. All the replenishment of nourishment that flows into it from the Jordan is either given up locally to the people who depend upon its waters in some way or other for their lives, or it flows south, to benefit others further downstream. The Sea of Galilee is 64 square miles in size (a little more than twice the size of DFW airport, to put it into perspective), with an average depth of 84 feet, and a maximum depth of 141 feet.

The Dead Sea is completely different. It is 233 square miles in size. It has an average depth 653 feet, and a maximum depth of 997. It is many, many times the size and depth of the Galilee. The fertile waters of the Jordan flow in, carrying the richness that flowed out of the Galilee, but it has no outlet and its waters are trapped. And yet, despite its huge size and the fact that it holds onto all the riches that flow into it, it is a dead place. It supports little or no life......in fact, it poisons life. Nothing can grow on its shores. It's primary use in ancient times was the production of mineral salts for embalming mummies.

A person should be modeling his life after Galilee, and not the Dead Sea. This is not a diatribe against wealth. The tiny Galilee is wealthy, and the enormous Dead Sea is poor. It is more about what we do with our lives and our resources......and there is more than one kind of wealth. Do we use what we accumulate to bless others like the Galilee, or do we hoard it like the Dead Sea? Two of the things we hopefully accumulate in life are wisdom and perspective. As we grow older, if we have been blessed enough to grow financially wealthy (as the Galilee is blessed), we should be grateful enough for it to support worthy charities with some of that wealth. If we have lived long enough to gain in wisdom and perspective, we should be joyfully sharing those things with people who are seeking them. And, by being such a person, you become a joy to be around.

My guess is that your friend Smitty is such a person, and for exactly those reasons. Instead of being spiritually poverty-stricken, he gladly shares the joy of the Lord with others; for it was given to him (he did not "earn" it) exactly as the waters of the Jordan flow into the Galilee, so it is not "his" to hold onto. Who is not blessed by holding such friendships as these? Furthermore, this is a parable for something else too.....

Jesus's friends and followers were blessed by him in the flesh....meaning, they could see, hear, and touch him. When he performed miracles or spoke so profoundly to their faces, it was easy for many to see him as more than just a normal man. Even those who hated him feared him because they recognized in him something greater than they. But for those who loved him, loving him was easy to do because he was right there among them. The disciple John is described as physically leaning against Jesus, close as brothers. But for those of us who come later, there is no physical presence which makes our faith easier to come by and to maintain. For this reason, we are called to individually put a face on Jesus—both for spiritual support to one another, and to be the face of Jesus to the world. Believers are commanded to be in community with one another for exactly this reason. A Christian who chooses to avoid community with his or her brothers and sisters in the faith is hamstringing his or her own spiritual experience, right out of the gate.

My own father is dead and gone, and he was not a believer anyway. I first came to the faith at age 41, 3 years after my father died. I have deliberately sought out the wisdom and friendship of older men in the church ever since then, and have been blessed in my life by more than one. Your friend Smitty sounds like such a man—a proper disciple of Jesus, wearing the face of Jesus for others. You are blessed to know him.

Great post TAM , the great commission , stewardship and commandment of Jesus himself . James lay it bare when he said ; Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away . As we grow older and the foolish priorities of youth fall away we discover more and more the real reason for our existence .