A Life of Service

     James Bradley followed his successful and moving Flags of Our Fathers with another World War II work, Flyboys. At times disturbing, Flyboys takes a different tack on the Pacific war. He confronts the reader with much more of the Japanese perspective, which naturally runs cross grain to the American understanding of the war, motivations, and right/wrong.
     The tale of the exploits of the 41st American President, George H.W. Bush, reached out and grabbed me by the collar. President Bush lives a life of service and that life includes not only serving as President, but also two terms as the Vice President with Ronald Reagan; congressman, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Ambassador to the United Nations. This does not touch the life of post-Presidential humanitarian service he continues to live. Why such a dedication to public service?
     His service as a Naval aviator in the Pacific offers a clue. Bradley tells of the operations against the Japanese radio station on the island of Chichi Jima in which President Bush flew a Grumman Avenger with a crew of three. The plane took anti-aircraft fire and Bush struggled to keep the plane on course. After delivering the payload, he then struggled to allow get his crew free from the burning plane.  The efforts failed.

Wounded, Mr. Bush floated alone, wondering if he would be captured. His remarkable rescue by and time aboard the USS Finback etched a sense of purpose on his heart as he reflected on what had happened.
"I'll never forget the beauty of the Pacific - the flying fish, the stark wonder of the sea the waves breaking across the bow. It was absolutely dark in the middle of the Pacific; the nights were so clear and the stars so brilliant. It was wonderful and energizing, a time to talk to God. 
I had time to reflect , to go deep inside myself and search for answers, People talk about a kind of foxhole Christianity, where you're in trouble and you think you're going to die so you want to make everything right with God and everybody else right there in the last minute. 
But this was just the opposite of that. I had already faced death; and God had spared me. I had this very deep and profound gratitude and a sense of wonder. Sometimes when there is a disaster people will say, 'Why me?' In an opposite way I had the same questions: why had I been spared and what did God have in store for me?"