Life with an Angel utube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb71vWMBt84&feature=youtu.be

Road trip

Road trip

Took a short ride ended up in Rushville, IN. Got caught in a super bucket downpour of rain. Thankful to the Rushville Baptist church for the use of their canopy. Parked there for about twenty minutes until the rain somewhat subsided. Trip cut short, had to get home to dry out. 

Next day I took off again- this time went out East from Shelbyville along 244.  Wanted to see the newly re-built covered bridge in Moscow, it was destroyed in about 2009 by a tornado. It was rebuilt in 2010. It was originally constructed in 1886, just a little before I was born. Always enjoyed this area and the beautiful countryside dotted with Amish farms. Usually I would pass a couple horse drawn buggies. Didn’t see any on this trip, although did see some fresh horse droppings along the way.

Father Vincent Capodanno

I first met Father Vincent Capodanno during a combat field operation somewhere in Vietnam. It was a Sunday and he was our field Chaplin.  I wasn’t Catholic, but a church service seemed welcoming considering our miserable circumstances.   

Several of us attended his service, all of various faiths; that didn’t matter. Father Capodanno’s service somehow provided us with a connection to our normal lives back home and brought some sanity to an environment of madness.

When Father Capodanno wasn’t in Chu Lai at his Chapel or in the hospital visiting the injured, he was with us out in combat-always serving God and the Marines; never thinking of himself or his own safety.

During our idle time in Vietnam my buddies and I would talk about going home or what we would do when we got home: the girls we knew, the cars we drove, the places we would hang out. I was sure Father Capodanno never had those thoughts. His thoughts were there, in Vietnam, thinking and striving to help others.

I remember on one occasion during another operation, we were sweeping a field walking in a horizontal formation. About fifteen yards from me two Marines had tripped some type of landmine and were seriously injured. Out of nowhere Father Capodanno climbed a fence, ran out in front of everyone, and was the first person to arrive at their side. 

He gave no thought to his own life-he knew he had to get to them to serve the faith that he so truly believed. It made us feel good to know he was with us.

I am thankful to God I was blessed to have been able to share a small portion of Father Capodanno’s life in Chu Lai, South Vietnam.

Shortly after I returned home I learned that he was killed during Operation Swift. As I read the details of his death, I knew he was doing what he had done so often; he was helping and comforting others.  

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Father Capodanno. He has always been, and still is, an inspiration of my life.

RETIRED! GRANDBABY! PUPPY! RIDING! WRITING!

RETIREMENT:

I've been away from my blog for a long-long time but I’m back. A lot has happened in these past four years, the most note worthy is- I’m now RETIRED! Completely! No job, just living on retirement benefits and SS.  How great is that?   

GRANDBABY: Actually, the most note worthy has to be our number ten grandson, Mitch Colton Johnson. We love our Mitch.

RIDING:

About four months ago I sold my Honda VTX motorcycle (yeah, I ride a motorcycle). But I thought I was done, so I sold it. But it only took a few warm sunny days for me to get the bug again. Pictured is my new ride, a 2009 BMW GS. It is much more comfortable then the Honda and, for some weird reason, it is more fun to ride. I put over 13K miles on the VTX but never really went anywhere; I always knew it would not be a bike I would take on a long trip. But this GS is made for travel and I can tell I will take it on some long adventures, at least I hope so. I’ll keep you updated.

2009 BMW GS 1200cc

Bye-bye Honda

PUPPY:

Well, when you retire what's the first thing you need to do (besides getting a motorcycle)? If you guessed get a dog-you're right. We got a puppy, he's Eddie. He will be a year old on July 28, 2013. He's very attachable and smart. He gets more treats then I do and lives a great life, I should have such a life.

Eddie

SPIRIT OF AN ANGEL

I finished my second book titled “Spirit of an Angel.” It’s not published and probably never will be, needs a lot of editing (anyone out there that would like to edit it for me let me know). I admit I’m not a writer but I do enjoy doing it and will continue no matter what others may think. When I first started this blog (see below posts) I put some excerpts from it here, I will start doing that again. It’s based on my experiences in Vietnam; although it has some (a lot) of fictional drama added.

That’s it for now. I will keep posting about my retirement, my writing and my riding. Hope to see you along the way.  Remember-ride between the ditches.

Hi Mom, happy mothers day. Miss you, it's been five years... 

First day in Vietnam I found the Mimosa plant. It became my lucky charm.

The Lieutenant in the last jeep yelled at us to set up a perimeter around the area of the dead body. He pointed to a nearby tree line thirty yards from the beach and ordered me to take a position in the trees. I dutifully jogged there and dropped to the prone position taking guard. I would learn, while in Vietnam, I would have a lot of silent alone time while lying face down in the dirt. This would happen often, such as while on patrol, after receiving incoming sniper fire, or watching out for other Marines as they disarmed a landmine, or – as in this case-the recovery of a dead Marine. But I had no idea what I was watching for. There were a few Vietnamese around the area; I assumed they were local farmers. That’s when I noticed the Mimosa plant, it was growing everywhere. I remembered it. When I was a child my grandfather showed it to me while we were in the greenhouse at Garfield Park. It was magical; when you touch the leaves they mysteriously wrinkle and fold up. From that day forward it became my lucky charm.

First day in Vietnam

As we were traveling along the beach I first realized the tropical heat. Even though there was a good breeze the hot sun reflected and magnified the heat off the pure white sand. The temperature had to be triple digits with a kick-ass humidity. The convoy I was in was four jeeps long, with four or five men in each.

Suddenly, something on the beach came in view. It was a bright orange bundle that washed up to shore. Everyone else saw it as well because the short caravan was ordered to stop. That’s when I realized the pasty white and orange mass was a dead body. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit. Everyone assumed he was a Marine jet pilot, must have been shot down and his body had washed to shore. His body was all bloated and starting to decompose, bugs were all over it. Even though this was not the first dead body I had seen, it was still shocking. And this was just my first day in Vietnam. We were ordered to get out of the jeeps. Unconsciously and instinctively I put my hand to my heart.

"Spirit of an Angel" Vietnam-the untold story

INTRODUCTION

"Spirit of an Angel"

Mothers cry in torment and suffer with emotional pain and agony during every second their son’s are away. The war is as tragic to them as it is to the soldiers that fight the battles. To them it is the worry of what their sons are suffering and the unknown and worry of when and if they will return, and their hope that God is listening to their every prayer.

Vietnam Combat

Clearly, anyone who has served and survived military combat has lived an extraordinary life. And if you ask anyone who has served in military combat they will tell you their survival was the result of some type of heavenly intervention, they know God was watching over them. Some have even told me that while in combat they have had an out-of-body experience with God...

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  This is the first of a series of stories about my experiences in Vietnam