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Remember Them...and Always Remember For Them!
Fourth of July, 2006, I wrote… "I just wanted to say thank you very much to each and everyone for all your genuine concern and prayers during my brother's illness. His fight with pancreatic cancer was one of the most courageous I have ever seen. Paul Perry DuBose arrived in Texas on February 17th with the news that Florida doctors gave him six months to one year to live. He was able to begin treatments at M.D. Anderson quickly and we anchored ourselves in prayer and rested in the assurance that all things were in God's control. They still are and we are not to ask why...but simply remain steadfast and remember...'not my will, but Thine.' Paul was 64 years old on May 4, 2006. He told us good-bye on Thursday, June 29th in momma's front yard in Brazoria, Texas. It was a very sad day when we waved good-bye to him as he began his return trip to Florida. We all realized it would be the last time we would see him alive this side of Heaven. Before he left, as he reached out his car door and said good-bye to momma in her scooter, he reminded her of months before when she had said 'I don't have long down here and I will be with your daddy soon...' and Paul had replied, 'don't say that momma...you don't know how long you have...none of us do...when or where...any of us might go before you do.' He also told her...'when his time came...not to feel guilty that she could not make the trip to Florida.' He ended his talk with 'I'll be waiting for you, mother.' Needless to say, momma still needs your prayers. Paul went to be with our Heavenly Father on July 4, 2006. If he had to leave us, then this was the perfect day for him...a day full of patriotism and celebrating our freedom, which he knew personally was so costly. It was also a day of his own personal freedom from suffering any longer. It was very befitting because if my brother had been well, he would have been on a run with his Vietnam Veteran Harley buddies to visit The Wall on such a day...to remember those POWs, MIAs and all those who'd fallen. He was not at The Wall and he was not on his bike, but I am sure he got to see some of them today. I love him so much and I will surely miss him down here...for he was my voice with the National Rifle Association, my reminder to speak out and stand up for what I believe in. And he was my constant reminder to never forget those who gave their all so we could enjoy our blessed freedom. Please remember him...and always remember for him."
On Friday, July 7, 2006, in Gulf Breeze, Florida, Paul Perry DuBose's earthly body was escorted to Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida by a thundering mile of Harleys carrying some of our nation’s bravest men and women…who will continue to remember him and remember for him.
DUBOSE, PAUL PERRY
MSGT US AIR FORCE
AE3 US NAVY
VIETNAM
DATE OF BIRTH: 05/04/1942
DATE OF DEATH: 07/04/2006
BARRANCAS NATIONAL CEMETERY
NAVAL AIR STATION, PENSACOLA, FL
DUBOSE, PAUL PERDEPT
EM3 US NAVY
WORLD WAR II
DATE OF BIRTH: 05/07/1921
DATE OF DEATH: 06/22/2003
HERRIN CEMETERY
BON WEIR, TX
Fourth of July, 2009, I wrote… "Well, it is 3:45 a.m. and I cannot sleep. I am listening to the first of five prayer calls which will sound loudly over the speakers throughout Saudi Arabia today just as they do every day. The humming and singing of the monotonous praying chants from lost souls are vibrating through the walls and windows of this villa where my husband and I reside. My thoughts turn to my dad and my brother who are in heaven. This is the first time in my life I am not at home in the United States of America on the Fourth of July. Instead of enjoying a fireworks celebration proclaiming thankfulness for our freedom and participating in memorial services in remembrance of those fallen, I am listening, with very little freedom, to the lost who surround me in this foreign country. Most people of this culture despise the U.S.A., which I hold so dear to my heart. I so miss the celebration of my country today and what it stands for. I miss it as much as I miss jumping in my vehicle and driving to church to worship my one true God with my church family back home. I cannot comprehend the number of lost souls here…yes, some of the very souls Christ died to save. It draws my thoughts, in comparison on this day, to the number of people back home who have forsaken their freedoms which were bought and paid for, first by Jesus’ blood on Calvary, and secondly by the blood of our military. How can anyone take so lightly the cost that was paid so dearly for each of us? My oldest brother, Paul, lived his life to serve our country. He served in the Navy then retired from the Air Force about the same time they retired his C-130 Gunship, the SPECTRE. As I was re-reading one of his last e-mails to me (below), I am naturally thinking of him today, not just because he died on this day, but because he served my Country so proudly...as did my dad, my two other older brothers, my older son and his dad…uncles, cousins, nephews, a niece and so many others I know and knew while living on Randolph Air Force Base and working at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas during the Vietnam war. I want to say to them and to you, again, I will remember you and I will always remember for you!"
Here is a video clip of the type Gunship Paul served on before retiring from the military.
Paul’s letter to me written January 8, 2005… “Sis, I actually took pictures from the open back door of another C-130 of exactly this scene. (Over the Gulf of Mexico) I was taking them for study of how the new "ALE-20" dispensers would disperse the flares. It was right after the Soviet development of a "seeker head" for surface to air missiles (SAMS) that would not recognize the first (lower) acquisition, then look up to find the engine exhaust. This method of dispersing would have the seeker look up to find the overhead flares. Of course at the time I couldn't talk about it, let alone have a copy of the pictures. This could very well be the same ones. (found their way back to me) We called it what it was "The ALE-20 " ....... don't know where the "Angel Decoy" came from. Love, Paul”
This is an Air Force C-130 releasing flares to repel heat seeking Missiles. The pattern formed by these “decoys” is how the nickname, Angel decoy, came about. It's absolutely awesome! Maneuvers are usually in remote areas and over water, therefore the general public does not get to view these exercises.
TO THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED AND ARE NOW SERVING IN OUR MILITARY, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR DEFENDING AND FIGHTING FOR MY COUNTRY AND THE FREEDOM I CHERISH!
I WILL REMEMBER YOU AND I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER FOR YOU!
HAVE A HAPPY, SAFE AND MEMORABLE FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!
GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.!!!
Captured in His reflection,
2 comments:
So glad to have you back in the USA. I cannot even imagine the emotions that being back evokes.
Leah
Hi Leah,
Thank you for stopping by. The strongest emotion I now carry is EXTREMENESS. This is expressed first in my gratitude for those who have given me freedom...Jesus Christ and the Americans who have served in our military. As I remember how badly I missed the USA, the level of thankfulness continues to grow even now.
Secondly, my alone time with God was honed to the extreme. It is the most precious and vital part of me now and I require it. I will NEVER take it for granted EVER again. I know I was chosen to experience these extremes for such a time as this. In a country without Christ, where I was not allowed to speak, He taught me to write. In a country where I was not allowed to drive, He taught me to walk with Him continuously. In a country where I was to be submissive, He taught me to always stand up for Him. Leah, He taught me to hold tightly to Him and NEVER let anything or anyone come between us!
EXTREMELY THANKFUL,
~Mary
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