I was finally able to get my posts up to date. We have the internet running in our rooms but it is spotty at best. Thanks for the posts and emails - I will try to respond to everyone and I usually but the reply under the same post as the question so look for it there. Thanks again for your prayers and keep in touch. Love you guys and I look forward to seeing everyone in a year or so (seems too long to really think about yet :).
David
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Military Acronyms and Other Abbreviations
- Acft - Aircraft
- AFCS - Advanced Flight Control System
- AH-64 - Apache
- CE - Crew chief
- CH-46 - Marine's much smaller version of a Chinook
- CH-47 - Chinook
- CH-53 - Large Marine cargo helicopter
- DFac - Dinning Facility
- FE - Flight engineer
- FOB - Forward Operating Base
- IP - Instructor Pilot
- ME - Maintenance Examiner
- MTF - Maintenance Test Flight
- MTP - Maintenance Test Pilot
- NVG - Night Vision Google
- Pax - Passengers
- PC - Production Control
- Phase - Periodic in-depth inspection
- PI - Pilot
- PIC - Pilot in Command
- QC - Quality Control
- TI - Technical Inspector
- UH-60 - Blackhawk
- Vis - Visibility
- Xmsn - Transmission
Web Links
Blog Archive
-
▼
2007
(167)
-
▼
August
(23)
- 31 Aug
- Steve Moore walking back to work after lunch. He ...
- This is Potter (the flight engineer for 168) and h...
- This is Joice (our of our new crew chiefs) working...
- The guys are pulling the forward transmission out ...
- This is Brian doing some hover checks on one of ou...
- 28 Aug
- This is the crew up in Al Asad with 174. We were ...
- This is all of us going into the memorial service ...
- This is the PC/QC shop where I spend a good portio...
- 23 Aug
- 22 Aug
- 19 Aug
- 18 Aug
- 16 Aug
- 13 Aug
- My room right after I moved in. It stayed this w...
- This is our pile of bags as we were waiting for a...
- These wooden huts were pretty drafty (the back do...
- This was the site of our temporary quarters on ba...
- 10 Aug
- 5 Aug
- Aug 3
-
▼
August
(23)
5 comments:
David, thanks for these insightful comments. Reading the blogs before the accident made me realize for the first time the risks that you guys face EVERY DAY! Holy Cow! Then, two days of nothing... and then the reflections on the accident. These notes make my prayers so much easier. Blessings.
Pastork
David,
Thanks for writing. It helps us all process. The thought of 1 in 3 is horrifying to me. I think I take your existance for granted and in 10 to 20 we will have lots of time to hang out. Don't think I will feel that way for a long time. I love you very, very much. Alice-----
bless little Jen...she called "heard anything about david?" she was matter of fact and i appreciated that. we were clueless (not always our state) but in this case, helpful. we did think you were in heaven and were so thankful to know that but wendi....it was hard to think about wendi. we REALLY love wendi. jen and i prayed...and i was so thankful to be able to know that God had made the right choices. i found that i could not, for myself, ask God to have you alive and someone else dead...but i mentioned wendi, reminding God of wendi.. and then asking for some more years here for you seemed OK. (: andrew and i and wendi found out that we had all made resolves to never again be petty; to pray more; to be kinder....to have focus on both now and forever...trusting God absolutely. these were not in the spirit of negotition but just what happened...the preciousness of your life straightened us all up...hopefully for more than a week or so. we were much encouraged by an email from the pilot's mom...she told the world at large i suppose (i forget how far-reaching e mail is) that her son had said "mom, if i crash, you'll next see me in heaven" we were very glad for his family that they had that promise. probably you pilot types do have to feel in charge and i am glad for the courage and decisiveness that God-given assurance brings. we will ask God for some definite human reassurance as to the cause of the crash...God is tender-hearted toward our humanness and i have often been grateful for the reassurance He has given me in ways that made sense to me. we know He will do the same for you. have confidence in the strength that God gives for hard times. thank you for loving us so much; we feel exactly the same about you. (: circumstances make us feel as though we are in more danger, but this is not so: we are exactly where God wants us...human perceptions feel so real but they are not. (: thank you so much for writing. love, me
Thanks guys,
Pastor K - it is good to hear from you. It would be great to have you here but God has given us a Navy Chaplin that is doing a great job - I sure don't envy their job. Few people pay much attention to them until tragedy strikes. I hope things are going well at Zion - I have been praying for you guys.
Alice - Always good to read your writing. You are so much better at expressing the emotions I feel - love you guys.
Mom - There are many reasons I never worry about you two :) You always seem to react just how I expect and hope you would. I agree entirely with what you said about assurances. However, it is something I have to be careful of because those that I fly with do not have that same assurance that God is in control. It gives me a freedom and confidence that they don't have which can come across as reckless or worse uncaring. It would be much easier if I flew by myself but God has placed me in a position where other people are relying on me to get them back safely when I fly and to ensure the aircraft they fly are safe. For that reason my prayer is that God will show us a cause. At the same time this is an opportunity as you pointed out to recommit to what is really important. God is in control and as long as we are doing what He wants we are in the right place.
Thanks for your love - I have to fight my selfish tendency to take chances. I always felt that way about extreme sport/adventure people - a selfish way to live your life because it is people who love you who suffer when you're gone. I hope flying doesn't fall into that category :) Talk to you soon.
Hey David! Sorry to hear about your pilot friend. You are my mine and my family's prayers. Things in Fairbanks are doing well, in fact last week we had a record high and was probably as hot and humid as Iraq! Stay safe and we'll watch after Wendi...I sure enjoy performing with her every Sunday. Best to you and all of our soldiers. Jim Matherly
Post a Comment