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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] civility,, respect and reputation
  • Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:13:31 -0400

On 9/18/2010 1:33 AM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
On 9/17/2010 11:54 AM, Annie Pollock wrote:

Why fear saying 'no' to a deeply non ethical organisation?

That organization saved you, and me, from the Nazis, the Japs and the
Russians.

A friend sent me this today; its offtopic but enlightening:

> *'Shifty’ By Chuck Yeager*
> *
> **We 're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial
services.*
> *I want a nationwide memorial service for** Darrell "Shifty"
Powers.**
> Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy
> Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the
101st
> Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the
> History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all
10
> episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.
*

> *I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I
didn't
> know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman
having
> trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that
he was
> at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle," the
symbol of
> the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

> Making conversation, I asked him if he d been in the 101st
Airborne
> or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in
the
> 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he
served,
> and how many jumps he made.

> Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941
or so,
> and was in until sometime in 1945 ... " at which point my heart
> skipped. *

> *At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5
training
> jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . do you know
> where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.

> I told him "yes, I know exactly where Normandy is, and I know
what
> D-Day was." At that point he said "I also made a second jump
into
> Holland, into Arnhem." I was standing with a genuine war hero
...

> and then I realized that it was June, just after the
anniversary of
> D-Day.

> I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he
said
> "Yes. And it ' s real sad because, these days, so few of the
guys are

> left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My
heart
> was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.

> I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was
back in
> Coach while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant
back to

> get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came
> forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to
have
> it, that I'd take his in coach. *

> *He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there
are
> still some who remember what we did and who still care is
enough to
> make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he
said it.

> And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

> Shifty died on June 17, 2009 after fighting cancer. *

> *There was no parade.

> No big event in Staples Center .

> No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.

> No weeping fans on television.

> And that's not right.

> Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own
quiet way.

> Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to
the veterans.

> Rest in peace, Shifty.

> Chuck Yeager, MajGen. [ret.] *
> *P.S. I think that it is amazing how the "media" chooses our
"heros" these days...
> Michael Jackson & the like!*




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