Who packs your parachute? 

Charles Plumb was a naval aviator in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions his plane was hit by a North Vietnamese missile and he  parachuted into enemy territory.  Plumb was captured and spent the next six long years in a  North Vietnamese prison – the notorious Hanoi Hilton.  He, unlike many of his cell mates, survived the ordeal and now speaks to the public about the lessons learned from that grueling experience.

Upon his return home he and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, “You’re Captain Plumb! You flew fighters in Vietnam, and you were shot down!” “How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb. “I packed your parachute,” the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man shook his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.” As a former Navy paratrooper, I can relate – a chute opening is a good thing! 

Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform. I wonder how many times I might have encountered him in the ships passageways and not even say ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because he was a fighter pilot and the man who packed his chute was just a lowly sailor. 

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, meticulously packing the shrouds and folding the silk of each chute, holding in his hands the life of someone he did not know nor would ever meet.  If the chute he packed was deployed and failed it would mean certain death for its owner. 

After surviving that ordeal, Plumb asks his audience, “Who’s packing your parachute?” Who has done something that has helped make your day safer – or easier or more pleasant – or who have you witnessed “packing” for someone else? 

Each of us are touched by individuals who provide what we need to make it through the day. Some may help inadvertently but praise that person anyway. You are supporting the positive behavior we need in today’s crazy world  making it more likely to happen again.

Plumb  points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down – he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He was dependent on all four for his day-to-day survival. 

Sometimes in the challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We often fail to say “hello,” “please,” “thank you” or fail to look a person directly in the face without acknowledging them.  As you go through life take the time to recognize those who packed your parachute. Without them your chute may not open and save you from a hard or even fatal  landing.