Humble?

I ran across this today and thought how true it was. How many times has something inconvenienced you and not knowing what really was happening, you allowed it to bother you. This is just something to think about.

A Humbling Experience:

Origins: This is one of those items for which any additional commentary would only serve as a distracting embellishment, so we'll just present the details here and let the story tell itself.

On 8 June 2005 the following item appeared in the Albuquerque Tribune:
Air Force Capt. Jeremy Fresques, a Farmington native and Farmington High School graduate, joined a growing list of New Mexicans who have died in the war on terrorism, when the surveillance plane in which he flew crashed last week 80 miles northeast of Baghdad. Three of his U.S. colleagues and an Iraqi airman also were killed. Fresques was awarded the Bronze Medal posthumously Friday.

Fresques was 26. He left behind a wife — also an Air Force captain — and his parents. His sacrifice — and theirs — in the name of our nation's security and the cause of democracy was immense. Col. O.G. Mannon, commander of the 16th Special Operations Wing, rightly called Fresques and his comrades "heroes." We regard Fresques and all men and women with New Mexico connections as family and hold them deeply in our hearts.1
Capt. Fresque was killed in the line of duty on Memorial Day 2005, a month before he was to return home, and news of his death was conveyed Fly-By that day to Lt. Col. Scott Pleus, commander of the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona, where Capt. Fresques had previously been stationed. Lt. Col. Pleus, along with a chaplain and a medical technician, drove that evening to Yuma, Arizona, to undertake the sad duty of notifying Capt. Fresque's parents of their loss.

About a week later, Lt. Col. Pleus was notified that a memorial service would be held for Capt. Fresque in Sun City, Arizona, on 15 June and that a fly-by from Luke AFB had been requested as part of the service in Capt. Fresque's honor. Lt. Col. Pleus quickly assented:
Of course we would do it. It's a four-ship formation. They fly straight and level over the gravesite and then, directly over the service, the No. 3 plane pulls away while the others fly straight ahead. Symbolically he's headed for heaven. It's the highest form of respect we can pay to a fallen airman.

Everyone involved in such a service considers it an honor. The fliers. The honor guard. The bugler who plays taps. All of us.

While preparing to head from Glendale to Sun City (a distance of about 6 miles) for the memorial service, four F-16 fighter jets from Luke AFB flew a holding pattern over Glendale's Arrowhead Mall, prompting a local resident unaware of their purpose to send a sarcastic letter of complaint to the editor of The Arizona Republic:
A letter to the Editor;

Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do we thank for the morning air show?

Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 a.m., a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune!

Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns' early-bird special?

Any response would be appreciated.

Tom MacRae, Peoria3

The correspondent received a response from Col. Robin Rand, commander of Luke AFB's 56th Fighter Wing, in the pages of that same newspaper the following day:
Luke Air Force Base was asked to respond to a letter writer's question about a "morning air show" he observed recently ("A wake-up call from Luke's jets," Letters, Thursday):

The "wake-up call" witnessed the morning of June 15 was a formation of F-16 jets from Luke Air Force Base lining up for a memorial service in Sun City at the gravesite for Air Force Capt. Jeremy Fresques, an officer assigned to Air Force Special Operations. Fresques gave his life in defense of our country while serving in Iraq.

It is unfortunate that at a time when our nation is at war someone would believe we have less than honorable and professional reasons for such a mission.

The commander of the fighter squadron was given the difficult duty of informing the family of Capt. Fresques on Memorial Day that the officer, a husband, son and Arizonan, had died in Iraq.

On behalf of the men and women at Luke Air Force Base, we continue to keep Jeremy and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

Col. Robin Rand
Luke Air Force Base4

Four days later, the newpaper also published a reponse from Lt. Col. Pleus himself:
Regarding "A wake-up call from Luke's jets":

On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt Jeremy Fresques.

Capt.
Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day.

At 9 a.m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend.

Based on the letter writer's recount of the flyby, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the president of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured.

A four-ship flyby is a display of respect the Air Force pays to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.

The letter writer asks, "Whom do we thank for the morning air show?"

The 56th Fighter Wing will call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.

Lt. Col. Scott Pleus
Luke Air Force Base5

To his credit, the complainant, Mr. MacRae, tendered a written apology which was published in The Republic on 9 July:
Regarding "Flyby honoring fallen comrade" (Letters, June 28):

I read with increasing embarrassment and humility the response to my unfortunate letter to The Republic concerning an Air Force flyby ("A wake-up call from Luke's jets," Letters, June 23).

I had no idea of the significance of the flyby, and would never have insulted such a fine and respectful display had I known.

I have received many calls from the fine airmen who are serving or have served at Luke, and I have attempted to explain my side and apologized for any discomfort my letter has caused.

This was simply an uninformed citizen complaining about noise.

I have been made aware in both written and verbal communications of the four-ship flyby, and my heart goes out to each and every lost serviceman and woman in this war in which we are engaged.

I have been called un-American by an unknown caller and I feel that I must address that. I served in the U.S. Navy and am a Vietnam veteran. I love my country and respect the jobs that the service organizations are doing.

Please accept my heartfelt apologies.

Tom MacRae, Peoria6

OMG! I'm IT!

Tagz0rd

My Beautiful Wife tagged me.... so, here goes...

What was I doing 10 years ago? Was my first Christmas on my Mission in Alabama. Was opening a new area with Elder Lund. Greenville, AL (pronounced Green-VULL).

What was I doing 5 years ago? Celebrating our 2nd Christmas in our condo in Clearfield (which we finally just sold this summer, hooray!), and my 3rd Christmas married to my wonderful bride. I was working for IKANO Communications.

What was I doing 1 year ago? Started an awesome graphics job with the local newspaper agency. I am still there, transferred to a new department, and happier. Christmas was busy for both of us, but we got into the spirit selling pies to raise money for a family in need. Was such an awesome experience.

What was I doing yesterday? Worked and kicked butt to get out of there. Was sick all day, here is to hoping I feel better soon.

5 Snacks I enjoy –
• Twizzlers
• Fresh strawberries covered in Chocolate
• Tortilla Chips and Fresh Salsa made by my bride.
• Olives
• Cookies... Sugar, Chocolate Chip, Oreo, etc.

5 things I would do if I had a million dollars –
• Buy a New House, New Dodge Ram for me, and a New Honda Accord for my wife.
• Buy a small investment home in SLC for my parents who are disabled.
• Buy a Cabin in Montana next to my Fishing Hole.
• Take my Wife on a cruise that she has always wanted to go on.
• Invest the rest, and live on interest if possible. But I would still work, as my Job pretty much pwns.

5 Places I would run away to –
• Hawaii
• Home with Michelle
• Montana
• Hawaii again
• Driving in my Truck

5 T.V. Shows I Like –
• Heroes
• NFL Football
• The Simpsons
• 24
• Chuck


5 Things I Hate Doing –
• Failing
• Shopping
• Try and please everyone, (the only one that matters is Michelle.)
• Kicking the hidden item under the bed in the middle of the night, my poor toe.
• Dealing with Drama

5 biggest joys of the moment –
• Going to work and laughing at getting paid to do something I completely enjoy.
• Jetted Tub
• My Wife.
• My Wife and the Jetted Tub! Hahahah!
• HALO 3, Assassin's Creed, Bejeweled, well... Video Games in general.

5 people I'm tagging- 5 People who read this and haven't been tagged. I expect you to post a comment with your results!

HALO 3 FOR FREE!

HALO 3 for FREE!

If you waited to get your 360 and/or HALO 3, now is the time.

EDIT: They took it down. Look for it on the interweb, and you may find a great deal.

The Perfect Game

Those that know me, know on Saturday "The Perfect Game" was played.

The medal of "Perfection" was awarded.

I killed 17 enemies and never died, even though I dodged laser fire from my own teammate, and had no shields 3 times, I came out victorious!

Yeah... a little bragging on my part, but hey, Good Times.

Keep Moving Forward

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

~Walt Disney

How well do you know me?

Recently, my beautiful Wife and I were discussing things that happened in the past, both good and bad. We do that a lot, you know, we talk to each other.

It's no secret that my Wife and I have not always gotten along with some of my Wife's family. And at times, the division between us and her family reached Grand Canyon scale. During those times, I did my best to love her, comfort her, and be there for whatever she needed. Even though it has gotten a lot better, I decided that there was a lot of misunderstanding that went on, and since the conversation, I have thought about it more and feel I needed to say something, even if its on my own little soap box.

I know that we weren't totally innocent in all that went on, but I have never felt that much intolerance directed at me in all of my life, that I can remember. I know I do not do things that the "norm" does. I never have. It probably is because I am #4 in a family of 10 kids, and maybe I felt I needed to go against the grain to get attention, but I have never been one to conform. I have a wry sense of humor, I am a large over bearing and sometimes intimidating person, but that is only if I want to show that. And probably my greatest fault, I am VERY direct. I do not beat around the bush. It wastes time. It has causes problems that I have fought my whole life. Let me repeat that, "That I have fought my whole life."

The difference here, married, and being loved by the most wonderful person in the world, is that my actions do not only effect me. My Wife is there with me through all the situations I get into. And how I am blessed for that. And when something like that happened, I usually was fired up and ready for battle, but through all the problems, accusations, attacks and uncomfortable moments, I didn't do anything but support my Wife. I realized that doing that would only create a larger rift, and for her sake, I just held her. She cried. A lot.

Now, out of all this, I realized a very important detail.

Now this detail, has shown itself in my job recently, as the bosses in control of my destiny, basically, either promote me or deem that I am not worth keeping, and let me go.

This detail showed at the Doctor's office during my near-death illness this summer.

This detail has even caused problems in my church.

The detail is.... in each and all of these instances, the people involved, DO NOT KNOW ME. I was judged by looks... I was judged on misunderstandings... and the most disturbing, I was judged by what others have said.

The doctor's that dealt with me the most, knew I was a very caring person, and they realized what happened to me was not because of my life style, my weight, my stress level, or anything like that. They knew this could happen to ANYONE, and it just had to happen to me. I am SO glad it happened to me and not to my Wife. I wouldn't wish what happened to me on my worst enemy. No one should go through that much pain.

In my job, my art talent is what I rely on each and every day. The people in charge never paid attention to what I could do, and because I worked at a different site, they actually considered letting me go. It took many phone calls, emails, and finally a co-worker to stand up and get their attention. They kept me and I feel the department is stronger. I know my new co-workers are happy to have me.

Which brings me to my Wife's family.

Since we have moved, things seem to have gotten better and I believe HALO 2 and 3 have helped bring us together. I feel Video Games in general have allowed us to remain in contact with not only her family, but many friends across the country and even my brothers and sisters. We have fun, those of us that play. Another thing I feel is not of the norm. We moved because of our jobs. And I feel that HALO, video games in general, and some of her family that have blogs, allow us to see into there lives a little.

I wish I could tell them. I wish I could call up her family, and just tell them. I am not a bad person. I love my Wife, who is your sister, your daughter, your aunt, your niece, your sister-in-law, and maybe even your best friend, with all my heart. I have never treated her bad. I have never forced my will on her. I let her do what ever she feels she needs to do. I encourage her to do what she can to make her self a better person. We are genuinely in love with each other. No, we haven't been blessed with kids, its in God's hands. We trust that he has a plan for us, and we will be ready for it.

When we moved here, the job I had lined up, moved to Florida. We then were asking, what did we just do, and looking back, we realized we had helped a few people along the way. Even just recently, a very dear brother of mine. I got to get to know him. We had ups and downs this summer, but it was awesome to have him here while I went through the hospital visits, as he cheered me up and helped around the house. I know moving to Saint George was where we needed to be, not because we were pushed there or running away from any problems.

I feel there are two people who really know me. God and Michelle. I think if you want to get to know me. Then get to know me yourself. Not on the voice of others, nor on preconceived notions, nor anything but trying to honestly sit down (a.k.a. call?) and get to know me.

I am a very simple man.