Another memory: Up in the airplane, treetops swing
___By Newton Cole
___Baptist General Convention of Texas
___It was Christmas 1952, and the Korean War was going on. Some of us were doing duty up in the Arctic at remote sites in Greenland and Labrador.
___As a young circuit-riding chaplain, I had a chaplain's assistant whom I had known since his high school days, Bill Smith. Bill later was pastor of First Baptist Church of Mart for 31 years and a member of the BGCT Executive Board. We flew all over the Arctic to these sites, where I would preach and he would sing.
___I was the youngest chaplain in the armed forces and not much older than Bill. Flying was quite dangerous, and we literally lived "Que Sera, Sera," whatever will be will be.
___Just before Christmas 1952, the command chaplain called me and said he wanted me t
o do a complete circuit, nearly 10,000 miles, dropping Christmas bundles and trees to the remote sites where we could not land. Flying low at 200 feet altitude, we would sit in the back of the plane, strapped in, and open the door and shove packages up to 200 pounds with chutes on them and hope they fell close to the camp area.
___On our last delivery, we were over Padloping Island. Isolated and remote, the little group of men on the ground listened as we gave them a brief Christmas message from the air. Then the air drops began, and it would take several passes to get them all out.
___Next came the free-falling of the trees. Of course, the wind would strip all the needles off before they hit the snow, but the men were still happy to have them.
___On our last pass, we had saved the largest tree, and it took all of us to get the tree out the door. In a moment or two, we heard the terrible sounds of the four engine propellers groaning and straining, and we all prayed we would not crash.
___Slowly but surely No. 7224 began to climb but never gained its normal altitude. Some hours later, we arrived at Thule Air Base, Greenland, where we were met by fire trucks and ambulances in 40-below weather. This was not the usual procedure, and we were curious as to the reason.
___As we departed the plane, a strange sight caught our eyes. The last tree we had tossed had shot like an arrow into the vertical stabilizer of the plane, causing the groaning we had heard earlier as the plane struggled to rise. By the time we landed at the Top of the World, Thule Air Base, only the stump was still attached.
___People in the tower could not believe what they had seen--an airplane flying with a Christmas tree stuck to its tail.
___It was a memorable and remarkable Christmas.
___Newton Cole is a retired colonel and chaplain in the United States Air Force. After 36 years as a military chaplain, he has served the last eight years as military chaplain coordinator with the BGCT.
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