Light, Marker, Distress
4205raymond
Member Posts: 3,316 ✭✭✭✭
After watching "Straight talk from VN grunt" here on GD I got to thinking about my old boss. He was the CEO and President of the Association of Graduates at West Point. He was a great guy and passed away about six years ago. He was a chopper jockey in Vietnam and was General Haig's aide. I miss him terribly.
About 20 years ago he gave me this distress light and told me "always trust your compass and carry this in your hunting pack when hunting in those desolate places in the North Country ( Adirondack Forest Preserve) and if you can't make it out we will come get you."
Well here I sit with my hunting license in front of me wondering what the future holds for me and my sweetheart. Lost my hunting partner of 55 years in February and I am my wife's caregiver who is in pretty bad shape. Gerhard, my hunting partner was a Berlin trained toolmaker and worked for R&D at IBM. We spent a lot of time in the North Country in a pup tent and chasing Whitetails.
Well, got to thinking about that distress light in my pack and thought I should pull the battery out so it does not ruin the light. To my surprise that strobe light still blazes away! I know I have had this light for at least 20 years. How is it possible that it is still working? I have never changed the battery and is it possible that it has been working since Vietnam. If you look at the pictures you will see the battery to the right of unit.
Tonight my life is in distress. I tell you fellas, life is hard sometimes, but we must go on with God's help
-----------------------Ray
Comments
" but we must go on with God's help"
You've got this. And he's got you!
Ray- I’d like to think that battery refusing to give up, just might be your old friend telling you to keep on keeping on.
Call it a sign or Karma or whatever you wish, but that’s how I see it,
Ray, the Lord will ask nothing of you that the two of you together can't handle.
The battery refusing to give up? It was the same with my dad’s Timex. He passed on and a year later Mom sent it to me, I put it on my shelf with his picture and it ran for YEARS after that. I like to think he’s watching and smiling.
Pretty sure there is something quite supernatural going on here, but I will include the fact that they sure don't make things like they used to!
Ray, the way things are going these days in our country, may I suggest you light that ole distress signal up right now. Our good God is sure to see it and perhaps He may come to our rescue!
Brookwood, sounds like good advice. I suppose you can see that strobe from above and far, far away, maybe even from Heaven.
I know the battery is at least 20 years old. I have never seen a battery like it. Before my boss gave it to me I don't know the history but it is old enough to have been Vietnam Era. I suspect it was used as a locator for chopper rescue missions.
I have all the specs on the battery and the actual unit if one of you prior service guys recognizes this distress marker and can share more about it's history.---------------Ray
That is the standard Emergency Strobe Light that was carried in most aircraft survival kits. I do not know about the battery life and cannot ask the survival section cause I am long retired. But I will bring the question up next week at our monthly Air force dinner. Unfortunately, there are no survival experts that attend, mostly just aircrew.
I'm sorry for your situation Ray. While I don't know much about many things, I believe God sees your plight, feels your distress and is holding you in His hand. I picture Gerhart, smiling down on you and being thankful that you've pulled the old beacon out and had fond memories him.Have strength and know our prayers are with you and your wife.
First of all, thanks for sharing the story and the light. I know not how that battery is still working but I think it's working just to let you know you need to keep going on too. You are in my prayers.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Thanks for all your kind words. My wife has had a rough time of it for about five years now. I had dreams of leaving NY State and returning to my 2nd home in Kents Store, Va. Fortunately, King Cuomo is no longer Governor of this state. Mean while any plans to move to Virginia are on hold.
Prior to now my wife Diane had pretty bad a-fib and two stents placed in her heart. she also had a failed ablation. She had a stroke about five years ago and fell in the kitchen. We (ems, police and me) all realized what had happened. She made a 100% mental capacity recovery by the time a 2nd ambulance met up with us 4miles from home but her knees were a disaster from the fall. Since then she has had her left knee replaced and I would say it was a success and a torn meniscus in right knee that I would say was a failure. She has had four very bad bladder infections since then and the only thing that works is a anti-biotic that you mix the crystals with water and take orally. She is in considerable pain at times and can't take Ibuprofen because she is on blood thinner. About a year and a half ago she had double pneumonia twice. Finally on a cat scan a three inch tumor showed up intruding into windpipe in upper lobe of lung on left side. The tumor is rare and usually only non-smokers get it but she was a smoker for years. I took her to Westchester Medical Center and they have a procedure where they go down the wind pipe and excise the tumor with a laser. So far the pet scans are negative and cat scans don't show new growth at tumor site. Praise God. Presently they are trying to get her blood pressure up and get her more active. She has had so many set backs and been on a walker for a very long time.
I probably should make it more clear. The distress strobe light was given to me by my old boss who was CEO and President of the Association of Graduates at West Point. He was a member of the Class of 1964 USMA.
In addition to what I mentioned before my hunting partner for 55 years Gerhard passed away in February. He escaped the communist sector in Berlin and came to this country for a better life. He served in the US Army in a heavy weapons platoon in Germany.
No words can describe the hurt that I feel at loosing these two great friends.
Any prayers for my wife are greatly appreciated.------------------------------Ray
Ray, our prayers are for both of you,
Prayers Ray
Prayers sent for you and your wife.
Prayers for you both.