[Faith-talk] {Spam?} The Blue Angels

[Paul Smith]

Hello and greetings again to most of you, no matter where in this world 
you happen to reside.  I hope that your day is going well, by God's 
matchless grace and His providential care.

At the suggestion of an email respondent, whenever possible I will now 
give the direct subject to each of these posts instead of the mere 
generic subject of "Daily Thought." What do the rest of you wish?

This is a somewhat long story that I'd like to post, which may have 
appeared in a past issue of Guideposts Magazine, but am not sure.  This 
story is a compilation of items Brailled in 2001 entitled "Read To 
Grow." The author's name is not given, but as you read in the subject 
line it is entitled "The Blue Angels," rendered as follows:

On November 1, 1986 a corporate jet owned by Coca-Cola arrived at 
Elisabeth City, North Carolina carrying the CEO and acting president of 
the Word Foundation and several members of the board of directors.

Shortly after they had left the airport for a meeting in town, a series 
of events began to unfold which drove one man to create what we know 
today as Corporate Angel Network or "Angel Flight."

A Coast Guard Falcon 20 was beginning its takeoff roll at Elisabeth 
City when it blew both front wheels causing the jet to veer off the 
runway and run into a fence line.  The jet was headed to Memphis, TN, 
to pick up a little girl by the name of Crystal Grant and carry her to 
Good Samaritans Children's Hospital in Houston, TX, to undergo a liver 
transplant.  The pilots of the Coca-Cola plane watched the events and 
slowly began to hear the stories about the jet's mercy mission.

After a few hours the CEO and his passengers returned to the airport 
and witnessed the scene and asked the pilots what was going on.  Once 
the CEO had learned of the situation he asked to be taken to the Coast 
Guard Station so he could speak with the station commander.  Once there 
he asked him if there was anything he could offer or do.  The commander 
said, in a frustrated voice, "Yeah, can you make miracles happen? We 
need a jet and we need one fast."  The CEO just smiled and said you've 
got one and pointed to his company jet.

Within two hours the Coca-Cola jet was on its way to Memphis and the 
situation seemed under control.  But unbeknownst to them a similar 
scene was playing out in San Diego where the donor organ was being 
prepared for transport to Houston.  The aircraft lined up to take it to 
Houston had lost its ability to pressurize its cabin and a similar 
scramble was underway to find a replacement.

Calls went out and everyone made excuses from corporate CEO's to 
airline managers as to why they just couldn't help out.  Once word made 
its way to Elisabeth City the situation was reaching its last window of 
opportunity for the surgeons.  Time was now becoming an enemy.  Again 
the CEO of Coca-Cola was called upon to help out and he jumped on the 
phone with his pilots now in Houston.  They told him there was just no 
way they could go and retrieve the organ and return to Houston in time 
for the operation to take place.

The CEO began to think and ponder what would be speedy enough to 
retrieve it in time.  A call was placed to the governor of Georgia and 
he then placed a call to the governor of California requesting help.

On that day sitting on the ramp at NAS Miramar were six brand new 
F/A-18B's (two-seaters) wearing the colors of the Blue Angels, as the 
team prepared to debut them to the world on November 6.  It only took 4 
phone calls to reach the base commander and 2 more to reach the 
commander of the "Blues." One hour and 55 minutes later, Navy Lt. Tony 
Less, in Blue Angel 8, was geared up eastbound with his precious cargo 
strapped into the rear Martin Baker ejection seat--held in place by 
four dress bells.

Unbeknownst to the family or anyone in Houston, while all of this was 
unfolding, the local media had interviewed the little girl moments 
before she was placed into the prepping room for her surgery.  A 
reporter asked her if she was scared.  She responded, "No, I'm not 
worried.  My mommy told me that my angel will watch over me."

It was an ironic statement indeed.  At that moment Blue Angel 8 was 
coming off an Air National Guard tanker over western New Mexico and 
making a mad dash for Houston.  The clock was still ticking, and with 
each movement of the hand went further against the surgeons.  With only 
90 minutes to spare, Angel 8 turned finally to Houston's Hobby Rwy 4L 
and rolled out to a stop surrounded by police cars and an ambulance to 
rush the organ to the hospital.

To sum up this story, the transplant was successful and Crystal 
returned home to Memphis in time for Thanksgiving.  The CEO of 
Coca-Cola lobbied the Fortune 100 companies to create Corporate Angel 
Network, the name inspired by the Blue Angels.  To this date (2001) 
Blue Angel 8 wears a small silhouette of an angel praying on the canopy 
rail and the name "Crystal" written underneath.

A little over a month after the surgery the "Blues" made a planned 
detour to Memphis to say hi to a little girl named Crystal.  And it was 
on that day, December 18, 1986, that Crystal met her Angel, the angel 
who saved her life.

That was 14 years ago.  Today Crystal is 24 and every year she is 
personally invited to attend a show near her home in Memphis as the 
guest of honor of the Blue Angels.

See, I told you that this would be a heartwarming story.  I do have one 
question, though.  Does anyone reading these lines know what Crystal is 
doing nowadays, especially if any of you live in or near Memphis? If 
she got married, obviously her last name will be different.  At any 
rate I hope you received a blessing from reading the above story, and 
that, with God on one's side, all things are possible, even a liver transplant.

And that will do for today.  Until tomorrow when, Lord willing another 
inspirational article will be posted, may the God of Abraham, Isaac and 
Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last 
days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul