OLD GUY AND A BUCKET OF SHRIMP

[red750]

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.

 

OLD GUY AND A BUCKET OF SHRIMP

 

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 THEN 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 YOUR FREEDOM.

 

AS YOU CAN SEE, I CHOSE TO PASS IT

 

ON. IT IS A GREAT STORY THAT MANY

 

DON'T KNOW...YOU'VE GOT TO BE CAREFUL WITH

 

OLD GUYS, YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT THEY

 

HAVE DONE DURING THEIR LIFETIME.

 

More about Eddie Rickenbacker and the crash of the B-17 here:

 

http://www.historynet.com/eddie-rickenbacker-and-six-other-people-survive-a-b-17-crash-and-three-weeks-lost-in-the-pacific-ocean.htm

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

My old neighbour, a white-haired bus driver, told of watching from his trench as a flock of German aircraft bullied a lone Allied scout into position so a red Focker could dispatch it. Sport for the nobility.

 

We rarely stop to hear them, but every old person has amazing stories to tell.

 

 

[Downunder]

When I was a youngster, I thought my friends grandfather was a grumpy old bugger and we would purposely stir him up at times.

 

It wan't till much later (and perhaps he had passed away) that I found out the reason for his deafness.

 

He was in the artillery at Tobruk......

 

It instantly changed my perseption of the elderly...........

 

 

[Marty_d]

Hasn't this been on here before?

 

 

[red750]

Perhaps, but there's a lot of new members, and besides, it's worth repeating.