"The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." - Psalms 19:1 After a day trap aboard the USS Independence (CV-62) in 1993, CDR Larry "Nitro" Stack turned to me in the cockpit and said, "Zipper, I do not want to fly with you anymore." I was dumbfounded. I asked him why and his response was, "because you have no fear of death and I do not want to fly with someone who is not afraid of dying." I have been on borrowed time since 1978 when doctors gave me zero chance of survival after a horrific accident. Since then my attitude on life, and more importantly the giver and sustainer of that life, has changed. My life has seen more than the normal ration of danger and violence and it is amazing to watch the brain's response to mortal fear. It tends to shrink to the size of a raisin. At that size, there is only processing power for one or two things, and they are often not what is needed to get through. I cannot claim to be a truly fearless guy. Knowing the number of my days is already set by the creator of the universe, Jesus Christ, gave me the clarity to stay calm and keep going when SAMs or BBs were coming my way. Even when I flew through the valley of the shadow of death, I remembered Jesus' promise that those who His Father had given Him could never be snatched from His hand. I had just arrived at the airbase in Aviano, Italy to brief before a mission over Kosovo and the FRY in 1999. I ran into the Yeti in a hallway of the old officer's club that the Navy had taken over as its command post. He and I were Weapons School Instructors and had been sent to join what we had termed "the rainbow coalition" of EA-6B crews and aircraft supporting the conflict from Aviano. The Yeti had just returned from a night mission over the beach and was still in his flight gear. When I asked him how it went, he started to grow, and grow, and grow, and squared off on me in the passage. I thought he was going to kill me. "Mister, let me tell you something! When SAMs are being shot it does'nt matter if they are shot at you or not, THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THEY ARE SHOT AT YOU!" Yeti's crew that night had flown into an SA-3 Goa missile engagement ring. The battery radar had locked them up and rippled eight, that's right, eight, missiles at them in less than one minute. Yeti had flown through the valley of the shadow of death that night, with a junior crew. (Note: Yeti's response to danger was/is the same as mine. That can not be said for his crew, who were all in raisin mode.) I flew with some of the bravest men on this planet off carriers at night and in combat. What is bravery? I define it as a person who will knowingly go out and put his life at great and immediate risk, having no idea what comes after it has been snuffed out. That is bravery. I took the same risk, but my strength did not come from myself. So, 191PZ was the closest number I could come up with that truly gave the glory to God. Just reading Psalms 19:1 screams out to every person who has ever flown that God's provision for us is incredible. The vaults of heaven we fly in, be they in the United States or anywhere else on the planet, all testify to what God has made for us to enjoy. That I get to fly around in them in a plane I built is just another miracle, and all miracles point to the Father. |
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David and Goliath >
Why 191PZ? |