Ramblings on Pan Am Flight 103...

For many folks their first experience with terrorism was with the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 ,the terrible Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, or even the horrific second World Trade center bombing, but one that struck close to home for me was the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103...

I had officially become a soldier in the summer of 1988 and had 3 weeks of vacation around Christmas later that year. My parents had provided me with airfare to spend Christmas with some relatives in Dusseldorf, Germany.

I had been enjoying my down time experiencing a European Christmas which was quite different from the ones I had experienced in the South growing up. I can still recall the tolling of church bells at midnight on Christmas morning. That is a truly an amazing experience that if you are given the chance, you should experience it.

I am getting a little ahead of myself here...

My relatives had shown me a wonderful time, with a weekend trip to Paris, a tour of the Netherlands, and all the wonders of Dusseldorf. Life was good with no worries... terrorism only happened to people in far away places...

I was in a far away place, and terrorism was about to come calling nearby...

We were all enjoying watching TV on the evening of December 21, 1988 when the news came on and announced that Pan Am Flight 103 had crashed. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the news that night, but over the course of the next week and half, we learned that it was a probable terrorist attack. As a side note, back in 1988 you did not have access to all the 24/7 news channels, Internet, and news radio like you do today. Today one can get INFORMATION OVERLOAD if you wish!

In a week and a half, *I* would be on a commercial jet flying back stateside. I was wondering if a similar fate awaited me...

I remember telling my relatives farewell as I boarded a Lufthansa flight from Dusseldorf to JFK International in NYC. My flight was going to the same destination that Pan Am 103 was headed to and I prayed I would be safe. I will not say I had a sense of dread as I boarded, or was even worried, because the thrill of flying (well it is thrilling to me) was greater than anything that could possibly happen. However it crossed my mind a few times as we crossed the Atlantic.

I was dozing in my seat, when all of sudden Frank Sinatra's New York, New York starting playing (Lufthansa used to do this on all their flights when the plane was getting close to JFK). I had never been so happy to hear that song! That song song still brings back that fond memory and sense of relief.

You know the rest of the story, I lived to tell the tale.

The bad guys were found guilty and locked away... well until Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi is about to released on "COMPASSIONATE GROUNDS" WTF!!! WTF!!! again WTF!!!

Where is the compassion for the 270 people he killed??? All humans deserve forgiveness, but we should never forget and we should never treat him any better than he treated his victims.

Sorry tonight for the rant folks, but this really makes me angry that this scumbag is possibly getting to go home to die with COMPASSION with his family! To bad Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi didn't have compassion for his 270 victims AND THEIR FAMILIES!

I bring this up folks, just to point out, the good guys don't always win, and evil can still triumph in this world I am sad to say...

Later,
ZA

Ramblings on having your gear with you...

Some folks like to build homes in remote locations and then put gates to block access into them. I totally understand that idealogy, but I don't call people to repair my problems and then don't provide access to allow them to fix them.

I had to head up and fix a customers service. The problem was all the gates that provided access were locked up and I was not going to able to drive the old work truck down to the residence. So I was going to either leave the customer out of service or go on a little hike.

I freshened up my CamelBack with 3 liters of ice cold goodness, sprayed down with insect repellent, grabbed my Woodsman's Pal, Walking Stick, batteries for my flashlight and headed down the road.

The picture on top was taken a few weeks before when I was in the area that shows you the terrain.

I began my descent down the trail with the realization that it would be all uphill on the way back. Roughly two miles down and I located the house and the problem, but I would need my work truck for the materials.

So back up the hill I hiked and I began to appreciate the gear I had with me. The water quenched my thirst, the walking stick helped me walk up the little trail, the LED flashlight illuminated my path, and the iPhone had sent out a position report to my wife via email and also provided me with a map and compass (had paper and a real one as well).

As I came back on top of the mountain my work cellphone had a voice mail with my customer and I called him back and got someone to let me into the gate to fix his problem.

With my gear I carry I am able to save my own rear as well as utilize it for things as simple as long hikes to help me with my job. So your BOB is not just for emergencies only, it helps you when there is nothing too exciting going on as well.

Just make sure you replace any items you used when you get back to where you can.


Oh yeah, here is the last bit of light fading behind a mountain that I was blessed in seeing as I got back to my truck!


Thanks for reading!

later,
ZA