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Show IllItop 2 TIMES COMMENTARY Attitude is a matter of personal choice May 15, 2014 BY CHAPLAIN (CAPT.) LUKUS COUNTERMAN 75th Air Base Wing Chapel S I normally read to my kids before they go to bed, and weekly since 194 8 it has become an enjoyable time for them and for me. Hilltop Times Editorial Staff: Not too long ago, we finished the Charles Horton Standard-Examiner publisher book, Robinson Crusoe. It was Mitch Shaw Hilltop Times Writer written in 1719 by Daniel Defoe Hilltop Times Sarah Stoll Correspondent and is a classic piece about a man Dana Rimington Hilltop Times who was shipwrecked and spent Correspondent Deadlines: Editorial and news items are 27 years on a tropical island. due by noon on the Friday prior to the Thursday print date. To submit news Near the beginning of the book, items email 75abw.pa@us.af.mil or call the hero is cast on the island by 801-777-1902. For Classified Advertising, call 801-625-4300. For Retail Advertising, himself. call 801-625-4388. One of the things about the The Hilltop Times is pubstory that caught my attention lished by Ogden Publishing Corp., a private firm in no way was Crusoe's early journal entry. It went like this: "I am cast upon connected with the U.S. Air Force, under, and in compliance a horrible desert island void of all with, a Memorandum of Unhope of recovery. But I am alive derstanding with Hill Air Force and not drowned as all of my Base. The content of the Hilltop ship's company was. I am without Times does not necessarily any defense or means to resist represent the views of, nor is it any violence of man or beast. But endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force or Hill Air Force Base (collectively, the Government). The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the BY CAPT. JASON CHRISTIE Government of the products or Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations services advertised. Everything advertised in this DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, publication shall be made avail- Del. — I began my career 15 able for purchase, use or payears ago as a maintainer launchtronage without regard to race, ing aircraft with wide eyes and color, religion, sex, national orisupreme confidence. Aircraft gin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation coming and going was normal or any other nonmerit factor of to me and had been since I was the purchaser, user or patron. a child, when my father was in Editorial content is edited, the Air Force. As I grew into the prepared and provided by the job, the importance of our work Standard-Examiner, 332 Standwas constantly on the minds of ard Way, Ogden, Utah, 84404. everyone around me. It was our Additional editorial content is responsibility to do everything provided by various military we could, the right way, to make and civilian wire services and Hill Air Force Base public affairs sure the aircraft came back. I departments. took the maintenance badge I Call 801-777-1902 with story wore very seriously. ideas or comments, or email A few weeks ago, I was noti75abw.pa@us.af.mil . fied I would be a military escort Call 801-625-4300 for Clasfor a fallen Airman returning sified Advertising or 801-625from the Vietnam conflict. On 4388 for Retail Advertising. "doom and gloom" or "glass halfempty" sort of people. What they may not realize is they don't have to be. They can choose to have joy and thankfulness because attitude is not dependent on circumstances. Similar to the tone of Crusoe, a man named Paul (no last name that I know of) wrote, "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." You can see that Paul set parameters on his suffering and boundaries on his trials so that he could look outside of them for sources of joy and thankfulness. Even in the midst of family turmoil, loss, physical pain, force shaping or furlough, perhaps we need to choose joy. Perhaps we need to focus on things we are thankful for. The circumstance may not change, but our attitude I am cast on an island where I see no wild beasts to hurt me as I saw on the coast of Africa. What if I had been shipwrecked there? I have not clothes Counterman to cover me. But I am in a hot climate where, if I had clothes, I could not wear them." The more I thought about it, the more it struck me that Crusoe was choosing to find a silver lining. He was intentionally looking on the bright side. I don't know how you feel about the concept, but I've come to the conclusion that thankfulness is an attitude. And your attitude is your choice. Some people feel victimized by life and constrained by circumstances such that they are without any thankfulness of heart, or joy in life. They are constantly the can. I'd like to give a closing illustration of this joyful, thankful thinking in the midst of trying times. It is from the diary of a theologian named Matthew Henry who lived some 250 years ago. His journal records how one day as he was walking along a street, some thieves sprung out of hiding and mugged him. Now for most people, that would be an occasion for complaint, but not for Matthew Henry. He made a choice to be joyful and thankful. This is what he wrote: "Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, let me be thankful that although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed." Joy and thankfulness is a choice — try it today. Captain honored to escort fallen Vietnam hero home HAWC Nest Fitness Tip from the Health and Wellness Center Studies have found that people who have smoked for years can dramatically reduce their risk of lung cancer and many other cancers by quitting. QUIT TODAY. For assistance call the HAWC at 777-1215. Dec. 30, 1969, 1st Lt. Douglas David Ferguson, having received the Silver Star just prior to the incident that would take his life, was part of a formation of F-4s from the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron on an armed reconnaissance mission over Laos. Doug and his still unaccounted for aircraft commander, Capt. Fielding Featherston, made two successful passes as they strafed their target. On their last pass, the aircraft went down. Their names are on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and on the lesser known, but still revered "Punchbowl" in Honolulu, more formally known as the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Ferguson was posthumously promoted to the rank of captain. I traveled along with Danielle Van Orden, an Air Force funeral director assigned to Dover Air TECH. SGT. SEAN TOBIN/U.S. Air Force Joint Base Lewis-McChord Honor Guard members fold the flag that was draped over the casket of Capt. Douglas D. Ferguson, May 2, at Mountain View Funeral Home in Lakewood, Wash. Ferguson was killed in the Vietnam War and was finally laid to rest at home after being missing for more than 44 years. Force Base, Delaware, who painstakingly works behind the scenes to bring closure to these families, through the Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, where Ferguson's remains were identified. In Hawaii we met his nephew, retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Bryan Scott and his cousin, a veteran flight attendant, Sally Sayard. The four of us were inseparable as we brought Capt. Ferguson back to Tacoma to be laid to rest. Our reactions ranged from lots of tears to lots of laughs and we eventually came up with the acronym WWDD or "What would Doug do?" to guide us on our long and emotional journey. Along the way, we met countless people who went above and beyond the call of duty in bringing the captain home. From the technicians at the 15th Force Support Squadron, to the pilots on our flights who honored him by explaining to each group of passengers who the hero on board that day was; to the ground crews at each airport we stopped at, who helped me take care of him and got us to where we needed to be; to the passengers who would flash a smile or whisper a thank you. Everyone was gracious, kind and amazing. In the Salt Lake City terminal, an older gentleman with a World War II veteran hat on saw me in service dress and stopped me to ask, with tears in his eyes, if I was bringing someone home. I replied, "Yes, sin After almost 45 years, Doug is coming home," and then told his story while the gentleman cried. Arriving in Seattle, I met Sue Scott, Capt. Ferguson's sister and longtime POW/MIA advocate and leader. Sue has helped countless families as they bring their loved ones home all the while wondering if she would see the day that her brother would do the same. That day, he would receive the welcome he so richly deserved. The Honor Guard from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, rendered impeccable honors, state and local police and firefighters came out in force for the processional, McChord Airmen executed a flawless funeral service on base and the Patriot Guard riders, Vietnam veterans themselves, escorted their fallen brother to his final resting place. The wear of a bracelet with the name of a Prisoner of War or Missing in Action service member has long been a tradition in the military community. It's a way of remembering and honoring those who haven't returned to us yet. There was a small wooden box at Ferguson's funeral where those who had worn his bracelet all these years were invited to leave them as a symbol that he'd finally come home. I hadn't worn his bracelet but wanted to honor him in my own way and though I am a personnel officer by now, I thought of the aircrews and maintainers on the flightline that day in 1969. I asked Sue if it was alright for me to place my maintenance badge in the box as a symbol of our journey and she graciously agreed. As I removed it from my uniform, the words of my past echoed through my head, "it's our job to make sure they get home." Well, Doug, it's been an honor and privilege to have been your final wingman. You're finally home. THINK SAFETY Hill's Total 2014 DUIs: 3 Hill's Last DUI: 7114,144 16 Unit Involved: sgra `71teleateaeloce 94"ft Airmen Against Drinking and Driving provide rides when designated drivers are unavailable. Call 777-1111 to request a ride anytime. Hours of operation: Fridays-Saturdays 10 p.m.- 6 a.m. Sundays 9 p.m.-midnight. Report suspicious activity via the AFOSI EAGLE EYES program Plat: 777-3056 / 3057/ 3058. Watch — Report — Protect a Sensor Force Protection is Our Business — Everyone is Security Forces 24-hr. 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