Captain Charlie Plumb has lived what he believes to be the American Dream. He dreamed about airplanes as a farm kid from Kansas, although he never really thought he would pilot one. It would be the United States Navy who afforded Plumb the opportunity to live out that dream.
After graduating from the Naval Academy, Plumb completed Navy Flight Training and reported to Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego where he flew the first adversarial flights in the development of what would be called The Navy Fighter Weapons School, currently known as “TOP GUN.” He would fly 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam and made over 100 carrier landings.
On his 75th mission, just five days before the end of his tour, Plumb was shot down over Hanoi. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands, taken prisoner, tortured, and spent the next 2,103 days in North Vietnamese Prisoner of War camps. His first prison cell was 8 ft. long and 8 ft. wide. During his nearly six years of captivity, Plumb distinguished himself as a pro in underground communications and was a great inspiration to all the other POWs and served as chaplain for two years.
One day, after Plumb had been freed from his unimaginable experience, he and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, when a man from 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.
The man replied, “I PACKED YOUR PARACHUTE.” 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. He says, “I kept wondering what he had 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 at 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 as a motivational has asked thousands of audiences, “Who’s packing your parachute?” Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He 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 parachutes.
We all have someone whose work is important for us to get ahead. One needs many parachutes in the day. From that comes the importance of valuing all those who contribute in many ways little by little build our path.
All the people that God places around us have a special value, and are a fundamental part of who we are today. So take time to appreciate the actions of those who may seem insignificant, be grateful for even small actions, humbly acknowledging those who pack your parachutes but not only that – ask yourself, “Whose parachutes are you packing?”
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.“ 1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” [Hebrews 13:2]
Following his repatriation, Plumb continued his Navy flying career in Reserve Squadrons where he flew A-4 Sky Hawks, A-7 Corsairs and FA-18 Hornets. His last two commands as a Naval Reservist were on the Aircraft Carrier Corral Sea and at a Fighter Air Wing in California. He retired from the United States Navy with the rank of Captain after 31 years of service and is an author and motivational speaker.
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