The Spirit of Giving
A gift is more than just some obligatory holiday exercise and a true gift is one that comes from the heart. A true gift is valued beyond what it is. These kinds of gifts are rare and answer a true need. That is the ultimate gift that represents the story behind Christmas. The funny thing is the giving becomes as soul satisfying as the gift itself and often the person offering such a gift is the most unsuspecting. Mark has been my friend for well over 30 years. He is the farthest thing from a surprise Santa as one can get.
With nearly thirty years in the Army and about to retire as a Lt. Colonel, I would think more along the lines of screaming Sgt. Rock instead of jovial old Saint Nick. He began his career as an Army Ranger serving in the Ranger Battalions; tough duty by anyone’s definition – Even Santa’s. He then migrated over to Special Forces where he was assigned to both the 5th and 1st Group SFGA as a weapons sergeant. After Special Forces he became a commissioned officer and served in Panama and the First Desert Storm as a Platoon Leader in the 82nd Airborne. Along the way he became a private pilot and added another passion we share – Flying.
I would be remiss not to mention that we were both avid skydivers and it was in fact he who pushed me out of the open door of an airplane at 11,500 feet laughing like the devil’s own. But, that is another story. As his career in the Army winds down he finally has a home besides the contents of a duffle bag and time to pursue some of the things he always wanted to do, but never had time for. Flying was high on this list and he went at it like everything else in his life: Full tilt set to AUTO. One of his first retirement gifts to himself was the purchase of a 1967 Cherokee 140 with the STC 160 hp Lycoming engine. It’s a peach and gets in and out of the confines of Donner Field quite nicely. Like a man with a new girlfriend, he wants to get everything for it at once. Since working with my wife to gain his Instrument ticket, he decided that a few updated radios were in order. So off to eBay he went and found a nice yellow-tagged King Nav/Com for the classic “I Gotta’ Have It” bidding price. Naturally, his bid won and he received a nice serviceable radio in the mail a few weeks later. Then I got the call. “Hey, your plane is 28 volts right?” I got that bad feeling. “Yeah and why do you ask?” The crux of it was that the best radio deal on eBay was a good deal except it was a 28 volt radio and Mark’s Cherokee was obviously 12 volts. It was “sold as is” with no returns and no exchanges. I didn’t need it and told him to stick it back on eBay. His radio man said it worked great and I assured him it would sell like that. As with the time I told him not to mess with that guy’s gal, he promptly ignored my advice. Colonel Mark had other ideas. Little did I know, he had been in contact with a missionary aviation outfit based out of Michigan; interested in possibly flying some mission work. His experience as a Green Beret; used to quick learning native languages and working with indigenous tribes, seemed to be a good fit.
With this in mind he called them and wondered if they might be interested in buying the radio. The chief pilot at the other end of the email was quick to respond. Yes, they would be interested and oddly enough they had the same King model installed in one of their planes and it was on the “fritz” and currently in the avionics shop for repair. They told Mark to go ahead and ship them the radio. Mark quickly fired back that he had a couple of days off and would go ahead and fly it up to them. Any excuse to fly…right. As I said I never thought of the Colonel as a guardian angel or agent of the Almighty. In fact, I thought of him more as Hell’s own avenging angel hanging under an olive drab canopy, with a Claymore mine duct taped to his forehead and a Kabar in his teeth. But all men seek God in their own way and this includes grizzled Army Colonels. Mark flew the radio up to Michigan and when he got there was immediately met by the Chief Pilot.
They were in a real bind. Their King unit came back from the shop alright – as an unusable piece of junk! It had flat lined and no amount of parts was going to make it right. The airplane it was to go in was to be flown out that day on its way to a vital mission trip to Venezuela. All was set in motion and the schedule was firm. The plane was packed and all of the customs paperwork signed. They had a loaner radio that would suffice, but considered marginally better that the reject. The Colonel didn’t bat an eye.
There was a mission and it needed to go off according to the timetable. Any Army Officer can appreciate that. “Here, try this one”, as he handed his radio over. It was bench tested and worked like a charm. The mission’s staff intimated that funds for such a purchase were a wee tight. The Colonel smiled and waved them off: “Merry Christmas”. Like I said, I never figured him for some kind of angelic deliverer like you picture in the movies; some irrepressible, fatherly figure seen in Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Nope, just never even occurred to me, but then again it doesn’t matter who gives along as the gift gets to who needs it most. Yes, the Lord sure does work in mysterious ways.
By Steve Bill Hanshew