Gold Bricks...get in trouble.

Quietly, humbly, the boatswain started to lecture. “I’m the boatswain in charge of loading this ship with supplies before we shove off for a shakedown cruise. I’m in trouble if it doesn’t get done on time.”  Then with face crimson in anger, he bellowed, “The brig is still nice and new just waiting to make shirkers of duty like you birds comfortable for a few

days on bread and water. I simply ain’t gonna let you jerks get me in trouble. If you do, I’ll arrange some unlovely extra duty that will make you wish you were back in Sunday school Class. Now, get the heck to work!”

FOREWORD

WRITTEN FOR ALL WHO UNDERSTAND THAT...FREEDOM ISN'T FREE...

While penning these paragraphs about my experience on board the great ship USS Cape Esperance, I thought of my shipmates and other sailors who served on board the good ship after the Cobra and Viper typhoons.

Threatened by onslaughts of wild wind and pounding water, none of us on board realized what a seaworthy chunk of steel was holding us up. Hearing eerie sounds from steel bending, twisting, snapping, and watching air- planes being swept across the flight deck and into the sea plagued us with fear. Sudden thrusts of the entire ship by megatons of water made us wonder why this top-heavy rig didn’t  capsize. Through the most powerful storm on record she showed her stuff, giving the ship’s company reason to thank God and the shipyard workers who glued her together.

     Some of my shipmates didn’t have a birds-eye view of what was happening above decks, as did the few of us who were stationed on the open bridge. Below decks the main concern was to cling to something—beams, pipes, or stanchions to avoid being slammed onto the steel deck or tossed against bulkheads.

I’m sure every sailor on board during those violent hours has different stories to tell about the storm, and will see things in my book that differ from their experiences. I’ve read everything I can find written by navy officers, and quotes from enlisted men who served on board the Cape Esperance and other ships during the battles with wind and waves. I found that some of their opinions, descriptions, and measurements are not synonymous with each other.  This is to be expected. It would be well for my readers to jot down their own experiences while serving on board our ship as memoirs to leave with their family and friends.

  Paul L. Schlener

..bigginning of the REAL serving...

That same dark, rainy night, Jessie and I, together with John and Fran and little John, headed to the Roberts home which had become a kind of hangout for Christian military personnel.  About half-way across the bridge, we noticed a man standing on the crosswalk, one foot on the bottom rail and both hands on the top rail, as he pushed and pulled himself back and forth.  His car was parked in the passing lane, blocking traffic.  We quickly concluded that he was about to attempt suicide by jumping over the railing.  John slammed on his brakes, and he and I flew out of the car.  We vaulted over the rail that separated automotive traffic from the pedestrian lane, and seized the man who never noticed us until we were at his side.  Our ladies didn’t appreciate being left in busy traffic at risk of receiving lectures or tickets from traffic cops.

The 27-year-old man sobbed as he struggled to free himself from John’s and my grasp.  “Don’t try to stop me, you damn  fools, or you’ll get hurt.  I just want to get this over with now.”  Our plan to secure him was cemented with imperceptible nods.  I grabbed his legs in a standing tackle, while John grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to the deck.  The poor guy realized we had him pinned; seeing the gathered crowd and hearing the shrieking sirens, he slowly relaxed.  The police’s arrival relieved John and me of our struggle.

“Nice going, fellows,” an officer said.  “Call this number tomorrow and I’ll let you know where this guy will be held, if you should want to visit him.  You might bring the poor man some cheer,  pull him out of the doldrums.”

Our sufficiency is of God 'the silver lining"

The Lord is my strength!  The physical weaknesses common to man at 85 years of age , magnified by degenerative damages from the car accident Jessie and I had survived in December of  2000 I learned that sitting and waiting requires strength which can only come from our Lord.The Lord hath sent strength (Psalm 68:28). The most gratifying lesson I observed in these years is that my inner man is continually strengthened by His Spirit. He is my strength to sit still, and to "go down" , to go up, to go on, treading the dead level and descending life's inclining motions, facing adversity(as thy days so shall thy strength be). Difficulties take on a new dimension as I focus on God's strength and not mine. I challenge who ever may read this blog to take hold of God's infinite strength and see for yourself.

IN THE MIDST OF THE TYPHOON

In the midst of the typhoon, I recalled Reverend Pike, recently appointed to the Methodist pastorate in Bonner's Ferry before I left home.  He had stopped me on the street just after I enlisted in the Navy, towering over me wearing glasses so thick they looked like tiny fishbowls.  However, his six-foot-plus height advantage kept me from making any smart remarks, and I attempted to hurry past with a simple, “Hi, Rev. Pike.”

But he stopped, offering a large paw to shake.  I attempted to side-step to avoid further conversation, but again he stood in my path.

“Your mother mentioned that you joined the Navy,” he said.

“Yes sir, I did.  I passed the physical—nothing more than presenting a live body and making my way clear across the examining room to the physician.  I’m fit as a fiddle, and just waiting for my call to active duty.”

Rev. Pike flashed a quick smile, then quickly turned serious again.  “Well, Paul, I wish you well as you enter the service.  I respect you for the desire to defend our country.”

His pleasant attitude disarmed me, which made the follow-up feel like a sucker punch.  “What I wish you would do, Paul, is make a decision for Christ before you go into active duty.  Ships go down, you know, and some of the boys don’t make it back home.”

“I’ll just have to take my chances!” I remarked, making good my

escape.  I wondered, on the open bridge of the Cape Esperance as 

  Typhoon Cobra blasted all around me, if I would be one of the 

boys who would make it back home

From 1946-NOW!!!

            This letter is to thank you, our supporting churches, prayer warriors and donors, for your faithfulness in sticking with us.  Jessie and I, a couple years as octogenarians,  are still enjoying life as much as ever.  Oh, not quite.  We can’t run as fast or jump as high, but the Lord has never left us or forsaken us since we accepted Him as our personal Savior while in our late teens.  Hebrews 13: 5 is encouraging to us, “Be content with what you have, because God has said,  ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’”.

            Last week we enjoyed reading our annual physical checkups and lab reports from our good doctor, who scribbled on the reports that all levels are satisfactory.  These good levels don’t seem to help the pain and weakness in Jessie’s knees and ankles as she shuffles down the hall for a cup of fresh Yuban “eye-opener” and into the living room for our morning worship.  My deafness is an unending hardship, not only for myself, but for my patient wife. After her third, failed, saliva-sprayed attempt to get my frequency, her shoulders sag from defeat, her arms hang limp, and she looks up to the ceiling – and on past to heaven for help.

            But Jessie is an exceptional “finder” of items I have misplaced.  My vision is great, but at times I search, and search for an item like a tool on my workbench, or my pocket knife, or one of my hearing aids, and can’t find it.  I’m looking at it, but don’t see it, until Jessie helping me search, points and says, “what’s that thing right there?” And I pounce on it like it had sprouted legs and was trying to escape my clutches.  On  occasion, too often, when I zap something in the micro wave, I stand there humming, or whistling a tune until I realize I forgot to punch “start”.  Oh my!  But we have fun laughing at each other as we come unglued, comparing our weaknesses like arthritic crooked fingers and toes.

            At this age we shouldn’t need encouragement, but in God’s providential care lots of things happen in our lives that contribute to our joy and happiness.  More and more God’s Word gives us confidence and deep satisfaction. Our children treat us like we are great people.  On the phone, by email, gifts by snail mail, special treatment, and surprise visits continue to store up wonderful memories for us.
          Please, check out my newest publication, use it for a tract as well as a gift for you favorite Veteran!

Ahoy Mates!

...God I know you are out there someplace....

In that moment, the Esperance careened down the side of a mountainous wave into a black trough that looked as deep as Hell’s Canyon in north Idaho.  As the bow attempted to knife the oncoming wave, we took a deathly blow to the port side, tipping us to a starboard list which jerked three of the five Hellcats loose to crash onto the catwalk at Lookout 3 position.  The heavy planes ripped the steel catwalk as though it were made of flimsy paper.  A hideous roar of scraping steel rose above the howling fury of waves and wind before the planes disappeared beneath the water.  Minutes later, another plane twisted around on its steel pads and plunged into the elevator well.

I stared looking for Jim on station 3, but his phones, still plugged in topside, dangled over the side, dipping in and out of the water as the ship listed.  I glared at the pitiful OD, speechless with fury.  I didn’t dare speak.  I wanted to fling myself on him and beat the life out of him.

I cried out, “God, I know you’re out there someplace!  No man or machinery can raise mountains of water like this or cause devastating winds to blow, and I’m not ready to meet you, wherever you are.”