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Show comments HILLTOP TIMES Friday, May S, 1987 o o o 0 hod beeim lkoin)gj Ogden Office T, day she got in the accident I had been at the family photos. looking Three months later, at her funeral, someone asked if I had a premonition. I hadn't, but it was a coincidence to choose that day in 18 years to look at them. The photos, taken by my father, showed a mischievous little girl grow into a mature, somewhat precarious woman. He called her his "rascal." She stretched the limits and, at the end, the risks won. She lost her life. This time, it had been spring break from college. a My sister and two girlfriends had escaped to --tFlorida a town for of week Beach, he party things they liked to do. One of them was sunbathing. The other was drugs. Day-ton- phtf s Iho fammoly From what the police could piece together, she and a friend had met two other college students on the beach. They had played some volleyball, and popped a few "downers" before piling into an orange-colore- d Volkswagen for a ride to get a soda a at nearby convenience store. On the way back to the beach, the driver turned left on a; yellow light. My sister, who was sitting on the passenger side of the front seat, was the only one injured when Datsun hit them broadside. the green-colore- d She was clinically dead when the paramedics arrived. They revived her and she lived three miserable months inside the intensive care ward of a hospital near the beach where she had played. My father flew down from our home in Illinois and sat beside her everyday. Once in a while, he would feed her popsicles. She loved grape and while she ate them off a stick in his hand, he would watch the purple color run through the plastic tubes leading from her body to the bottles hanging beside her By Chris Baierschmidt ALC Public Affairs tf bed. I don't know who hurt more. My sister who knew she was dying, or my father who sat watching her die. And, all along, they knew this could have been prevented. My sister was killed because she wasn't wearing a seat belt. The drugs could have slowed down the reaction time of the driver. But it happened mostly because she wasn't wearing a seat belt and slammed into the open glove compartment where she had put her soda. The compartment's door tore her apart inside. Twenty-op- e years gone due to carelessness. risks. Then, the 10 years it took afterwards for the rest of the family to piece their lives back together. It never stops hurting. Take it from me and do yourself a favor. Say no to drugs. Please, buckle up. You may not care how much you suffer -- but those who love you do. Un-neccess- What makes a person great? Greatness comes from achieving with integrity By Chaplain (Col.) Rhon V. Carleton Installation Chaplain w, hat makes a person great? Many people in our society are wealthy, but not great; many are famous, but not great; many have power, but are not great. Greatness comes not just from achieving, but from achieving with integrity. This concept, "achieving with integrity," is a part of this year's Chaplain Service theme, "Called to Excellence." Joe Paterno, football coach at Penn State University, symbolizes this kind of honest achievement. In the past five years his teams have won the na tional championship twice and finished second once. In this year's Fiesta Bowl his Nittany Lions faced the University of Miami in the final, decisive game of the season. Paterno told his players, "This is your national title; just go out and get it!" And they did. Throughout the football world, Paterno's program is known for its honest application of National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, for its emphasis on academics, as well as winning, and for its concern for the individual athlete. Joe Paterno has shown that winning tastes even sweeter when you've played by the rules. seeirefls keep Knowledge sometimes carries a D By TSgt. ffrainn) mmy . achieve honestly-wi- th integrity. nidi and a challenge By the time he called to tell me about the new stripe a couple of hours later, I was ready to Germany : . Ihysb heavy responsibility Ditlefsen JudyWest Spangdahlem AB, other phase of life, the dishonest person may get ahead for awhile. But in the end, the person who not only works hard, but is also honest, responsible and caring will accomplish that which lasts. As Air Force members, we are defenders of the values which have made our nation great. People of strong principle are the backbone of our force. They are strengthened by their religious faith, their commitment to the people they love, and the belief that they are doing a job that needs to be done. The Air Force needs people who are set on excellence and who Leaders in the business community have known the same thing for years. Cliff C. Jones in his book Winning Through Integrity (Abingdon Press, 1985) says, "Smart people realize that ethical sensitivity is not just good for the soul; it is also extremely good business." We like to deal with an honest salesman and a company which will back up its products. We know that a student who cheats hurts himself or herself more than anyone else. Such cheating is a way to avoid learning the material being presented and can easily lead to later failure in school, work or both. In any enterprise, whether school, work, politics, the military or any 1 scream. I keep secrets from my husband. Marriage counselors say that's a sure sign of a marriage in trouble, but I disagree. Telling some secrets might endanger my marriage even more. For many people, keeping a secret is a challenge. But keeping a secret is also part of maintaining integrity, an important part of our overall image. In the course of daily life in the military, many of us are privy to information which should not be made available to the general populace. It may not be classified, but it may be information that other people do not need to know, at least not right now. Knowledge sometimes carries a heavy responsibility. Several years ago, because of my job, I was privy to a promotion list long before other people on base.! Because only the commander has the authority to release the names of the people on that list, I had to hold my tongue about its contents. As I read the list of names, I decided that was not going to be a difficult chore because I did not know very many of people. But when I saw my husband's name, my mind began to reel. mmMmm mm 7 lines Published by MorMedia, Inc., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under exclusive written contract with Hill AFB. This commercial enterprise Air Force newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the U.S. military services. Contents of the Hill Top Times are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, the Department of Defense or the Depart . ((( IU (WHERE SECURITY ENDS! Seldom is the information I withhold from him or anyone else that good, but neither is it necessary for them to know. There's a big difference between a "need" to know and a "want" to know. It's usually not hard to distinguish between the two the hard part is repressing the urge to divulge what you know."'" :Tr ': Everyone needs to keep a secret at one time or another, and doing so with little things makes it easier when the big things come along. ? Especially because of our association with the military, sometimes it's worth it to bite your tongue and keep your mouth shut. Depending on your job and what you say, telling all you know can do far more damage than simply "letting the cat out of the bag." No, I don't tell my husband everything. Some. On the one hand, I was so proud of him I was ready to burst. But on the other, I had $o authority to tell him. I had promised my commander that I would not tell anyone who was on that list. Not only would I compromise my postion as a; trusted agent of my commander, but I would lose' a little piece of myself by destroying my integrity. I swallowed hard, and made a difficult, but important decision. - r-r- times, I can't. Fortunately, he understands that. .. Because of his job, he can't tell me everything either. So psychologists, take note: Sometimes it's all right to keep a secret. Editor's note: This editorial comes courtesy of the Air Force News Service. , 7T ment of the Air Force. : The appearance of advertisements in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of the Air Force or MorMedia, Inc. of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by. the Public Affairs Office of Ogden Air Logistics Center. Editorial Staff: . . Lt. Col. Larry P. Summers s Editor SSgt. Louis A. Staff Writers: Chris Baierschmidt i .' Ernie Shannon . . Jensen . .... . . A1CRalph Jay Joersz Deadlines: Editorial, 4 p.m. Monday, week of publication; "around the hill" items, 10 a.m. Monday, week of publication; classified ads, 2 p.m. Wednesday, week of publication. Hill AFB Public Affairs Officer Arana-Barrada- :. , |