>> This comes from Dr. Sky Hilts, an ex-Vietnam medico and birder based in >> Tucson, Texas. I >> >> >> >>> >>> >>> An Old Guy and a Bucket of Shrimp This is a wonderful story, and it >>> is true. You will be pleased that you read it, and I believe you will pass >>> it on. It is an important piece of American history. It happened >>> every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant >>> orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean. >>> >>> Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier.. Clutched in >>> his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, >>> where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a >>> golden bronze now. >>> >>> Everybody’s gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on >>> the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts…and his bucket of >>> shrimp. >>> >>> Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white >>> dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky >>> frame standing there on the end of the pier. >>> >>> Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering >>> and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As >>> he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, ‘Thank >>> you. Thank you.’ >>> >>> In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn’t leave. >>> >>> He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and >>> place. >>> >>> When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a >>> few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, >>> and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the >>> end of the beach and on home. >>> >>> If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, >>> Ed might seem like ‘a funny old duck,’ as my dad used to say. Or, to >>> onlookers, he’s just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, >>> feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp. >>> >>> To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They >>> can seem altogether unimportant …. maybe even a lot of nonsense. >>> >>> Old folks often do strange things, >>> at least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters. >>> >>> Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida . >>> That’s too bad. They’d do well to know him better. >>> >>> His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero in World War I, and >>> now he was in WWII. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he >>> and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, >>> crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft. >>> >>> Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of >>> the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they >>> fought hunger and thirst. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. >>> No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they >>> were or even if they were alive. Every day across America millions wondered >>> and prayed that Eddie Rickenbacker might somehow be found alive. >>> The men adrift needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple >>> devotional service and prayed for a miracle. They tried to nap. Eddie leaned >>> back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged on. All he >>> could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft.. >>> >>> Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. >>> It was a seagull! >>> >>> Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next >>> move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to >>> grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his >>> starving crew made a meal of it – a very slight meal for eight men. Then >>> they used the intestines for bait. With it, they caught fish, which gave >>> them food and more bait . . . and the cycle continued. With that simple >>> survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until >>> they were found and rescued after 24 days at sea. >>> >>> Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot >>> the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull… And he never stopped >>> saying, ‘Thank you.’ That’s why almost every Friday night he would walk to >>> the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of >>> gratitude. >>> >>> Reference: (Max Lucado, “In The Eye of the Storm”, pp..221, 225-226) >>> >>> PS: Eddie Rickenbacker was the founder of Eastern Airlines. Before WWI he >>> was race car driver. In WWI he was a pilot and became America’s first ace. >>> In WWII he was an instructor and military adviser, and he flew missions with >>> the combat pilots. Eddie Rickenbacker is a true American hero. And now >>> you know another story about the trials and sacrifices that brave men have >>> endured for our freedom. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>> >>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>>
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