The St. Patrick - Easter Connection

Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking about what I would like to share with you in celebration of Easter. Since it is so close to St. Patrick’s Day this year, I looked online and discovered that March 17 has been very important throughout the Christian Church’s history; in fact, according to Wikipedia “…the date of the feast is occasionally, yet controversially, moved by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week; this happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on April 3 in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and happened again in 2008, having been observed on March 14. March 17 will not fall during Holy Week again until 2160.”

My pastor, Rev. Steve Wilkinson of Northwest Presbyterian Church, writes a column in our church’s weekly online newsletter, and his thoughts in the March 13 issue made me aware of Patrick’s importance as a model of how Jesus Christ would have me live as a true disciple of His. Below is an excerpt of Steve’s Pastoral Pondering entitled “I’ll Never Go Back There” (used by permission).

“In the early 400's, a sixteen-year-old kid from a well-off family in Britain was snatched by Irish marauders and ended up slaving as a shepherd in the remote, mountainous areas of Ireland for six years. He was able to escape to France, and in the course of all this, developed a significant commitment to Christ. He matured in his faith and sense of call, and was finally ordained to ministry.

“Now most of us avoid places and people who've hurt us. But Patrick had a vision for Ireland to know Christ, and he returned there with a passion to help others know real hope and freedom in Christ. His concern for those who had held him captive was infectious. Not only did the gospel spread throughout Ireland, Irish Christians gained a reputation as "go-anywhere" Christians, taking the gospel to remote and threatening parts of the world. I’m sure this attitude was picked up from Patrick himself, who faced and faced down opposition to his work and the past that surely haunted him, who would go straight to those who were against the gospel to explain it and encourage them to believe.

“Patrick rose above whatever animosity or personal resentment he might have felt toward the Irish, and that made all the difference. Far from resenting them, he recognized their need to be right with God, got his personal issues out of the way, put Christ at the center, and "blessed his enemies." (Matthew 5. 43-48)

“To me, Patrick is a model of visionary evangelism and of a heart shaped by the love of God. Because of Christ he overcame natural human fear and probably hatred with a desire to share the love of God and the hope Christ gives. His own experience with grace and forgiveness gave him a heart bigger than most. I’m humbled when I consider that his willingness to put aside self-interest prepared the way for so many people to know Christ and re-shaped an entire culture. And it’s kind of fitting that this year St. Patrick’s Day falls the same week we’re remembering Christ’s service to the world, his death, and his resurrection. St. Patrick’s Savior set the bar for loving one’s enemies, didn’t he?”

Karin and I wish you a very Happy Easter!

5K!

(This is me at the start of the run...)

Today was a big day for this Army veteran. But I must go back to mid-May of 2004 to begin my story. As most of you know, I have been employed by Seattle Children’s Hospital since May 2001 as an administrative assistant in the Emergency Department. In 2003 I joined the Children’s Emergency Response Team (there is an article about our CERT group in November on this blog). As part of our medical screening prior to suiting up in our personal protective equipment (PPE), we have our blood pressure taken. If it is too high we are not allowed to put on our PPE. Well, in May 2004 mine was sky high, something like 176/113! Normal should be below 140/90…the lower the better, to a point, of course. Needless to say I was not allowed to suit up.

I immediately made an appointment with my personal doctor; during my physical he assessed me for heart attack risk by asking family history, if I smoked, if I got regular exercise, ate right, and so on. I have never smoked but my family history, exercise and eating habits all contributed to my 60% risk for a major cardiac “event” in the following five years! Talk about scaring the bejeebers out of me! He immediately put me on high blood pressure medication to begin to mitigate the situation.

That evaluation, coupled with an elevated blood glucose level (pre-diabetes symptom), has caused me to change my habits…less sugar and beer, and more exercise, for example. I started a regimen of walking on a treadmill, at least 20 minutes 3 to 4 times a week. I joined a gym near work, at a discount because I work at Children’s, and have been lifting weights and walking. The BP has come down, and the glucose is under control without medication.

Last summer my son Pete asked me if I would drive a van for one half of a team of 12 people who were running in the Northwest Passage Ragnar Relay series from Blaine, WA, just south of the British Columbia border to Langley at the southern tip of Whidbey Island, WA, a distance of almost 190 miles. I drove for his part of the team and got the bug to begin running. So, because of my son, who is a great encourager, I decided to run in the 2008 Seattle St. Patrick’s Day Dash, a fun run of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is) to Quest Field (where the Seahawks play). I have been training for this run for several months on the treadmill, and when the days got light enough after work, since the middle of February, continued to run outside on the Sammamish River trail, a paved mile-marked trail that used by lots of runners, walkers and bicyclists.

This brings me back to today, March 16th, was the Dash, and Pete and I ran with about 17,000 of our closest friends! It was great fun to see people of all ages together (all “Irish,” too!) completely filling the street for over 3 miles! Pete finished in about 34:10, and I took 39:09. Of the 5,000 meters, I ran all of it except for about 175 meters when both of us got caught in a bottleneck going into a tunnel and then a planned 40 meters for me as I rounded the block just before heading for the finish line. It was so exhilarating and it nearly brought tears to my eyes as I realized that I had accomplished my goal!

The moral of this story, guys, is that you are never too old to take up anything new, whether it’s a hobby or a new sport. (The last time I had run any distance was over 40 years ago as a new recruit in BCT at Fort Lewis!) So, if you have a desire or a chance to do something new, go for it!

More 225th History

This is continues the Unit History of the 225th that I started in the Observer in January. At the end is some history that Howard Ohlson of OV-1.com sent me after he read that the Unit actually has roots in World War II.

You can go to http://www.ov-1.com/225th_AVN/225th-history.html to see our complete history.

The unit was activated effective 15 July 1966 at Ft. Lewis, Washington.

The unit activation orders were amended to TO&E 1-128T, Level 3.
 Authorized strength 12 Officers, 15 Warrant Officers and 190 Enlisted Men.

The unit was transferred on permanent change of station from Ft Lewis to the United States Army, Pacific, Movement Project Code WGI. Additionally they were relieved from assignment to Sixth US Army and assigned to US Army, Pacific upon their arrival in Vietnam.

The unit was reorganized effective 2 January 1968 under MTO&E 1-28TV00.
 Authorized strength of 12 Officers, 15 Warrant Officers and 190 Enlisted Men.

15 July (1966) was designated as unit day.

The unit was reorganized effective 1 December 1968 under MTO&E 1-128T, USARPAC 1/68. 
Authorized strength of 19 Officers, 22 Warrant Officers and 291 Enlisted Men.

The unit was reorganized as 225th Aviation Company (Surveillance Airplane) effective 15 May 1969 under MTO&E 1-128TP02, 1/69 Level 1.
 Authorized strength of 19 Officers, 22 Warrant Officers and 290 Enlisted Men.

The 225th Aviation Company (Surveillance Airplane) was inactivated effective 26 December 1971.

Howard Ohlson, 73rd Aviation Company, Red Haze Platoon, 1966 – 1968 sent me the following unit information that he discovered. Thanks Howard! You can write to him at howard@ov-1.com.

In World War II, if you remember, the Army was segregated. To distinguish between white and "colored" units, the Army used the parenthetical designator of (Cld) to denote colored units. During research I was able to access mustering out rolls from World War II for Company K. The Army also used the parenthetical designator of (Cld) to show race on the rolls. The enlisted personnel almost exclusively were all listed as Colored while the officers had no designator behind their names.

The Army, for Vietnam, re-activated and re-designated two other World War II Truck units that became the 244th and 245th Aviation Companies. The 73rd started out in the early '60's and went to Vietnam as a Bird-dog (O-1) unit. The 131st started out as a Huey gunship company.

So the 225th, the 244th and the 245th have proud military lineage and history behind them.

A little un-recognized history of the Vietnam Mohawk units.

More Military Wit and Wisdom

Here's more sage military advice sent by George Drago...

"You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me."  - U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt.

"Tracers work both ways."  - U.S. Army Ordnance

"Five second fuses only last three seconds."  - Infantry Journal

"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once."

"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do."  - Unknown Marine Recruit

 

"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him."  - USAF Ammo Troop

 

"Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death, I Shall Fear No Evil...For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing."

 

"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."  - Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)

"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."