Captain Hilliard Wilbanks, Medal of Honor Recipient

Saturday I traveled a couple hours south to Cornelia Georgia for the Memorial Ceremony of Capt Hilliard Wilbanks. Capt Wilbanks was a Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient for his actions in Vietnam. He was one of only two members of the Air Force awarded this honor and the only one who was awarded it posthumously. I didn't know the family, or anyone other than my brother who met me, but I wanted to attend and maybe learn a little about his life. The anniversary of his actions is Tuesday, February 24th. February 24th is also my birthday. My dad had been in Vietnam for 10 days and I was 5 years old. My father also passed away 5 minutes past midnight on February 25, 2008. What does all of this coincidence mean? I have no idea, but I do know that on my birthday, I won't be thinking so much about myself, but about those in my life that have given me opportunities, lessons and experiences that have made me richer. I will appreciate those that I have and hold dear. I will also appreciate those that I don't even know and probably will never meet, but who have given a little of themselves, or all of themselves so I can enjoy my life to it's fullest. My belief is that we all have something to offer and maybe through this project, we can all offer a little of ourselves and combined, we can offer a lot to someone else.

The key note speaker for the days events was Jonathan Myers, a classmate of Capt. Wilbanks at FAC school prior to leaving for Vietnam. His words were eloquent and informative, as well adding to my understanding of the mission and objectives of the FAC pilot in Vietnam. An interesting footnote is that my Dad's footage posted in a prior post will be accompanying Jonathan's words in an exhibit for the National Vietnam War Museum. I was very glad to meet him.
The O-1 fly-overs were performed by members of the International Birddog Association. Members flying were: Dave Jester, Sam Dawson, Breece Nesbitt, Clayton Kerr, Dave Forrest and Charles Race. I big thanks to all of them.

My Otter Friends

I went out for a short paddle on Saturday and got a chance to spend some time with these guys. The day was warm, in the 60's, but windy. I paddled down to a spot where I had seen about a thousand geese and duck in December. Saturday there were fewer ducks, but I did see something new. A couple river otters playing by the water. I spent about 30 minutes watching and taking photos and thoroughly having a hoot at their antics. I took this video after seeing them from a couple hundred yards away. At first I thought they were a single beaver. To get a better view, I crept along the wooded edge, staying out of sight until I drew even with the raised bank where I thought they (it) were playing. I drew even with them and crept up to the crest where I thought they were. Sure enough, there they were about 20 yards away. I believe it may have been a mating pair...you see the video and tell me what you think. I'm no Marlin Perkins, but the movements suggest a little amorous attention trying to be given. They finally saw me and took off into the water. They didn't disappear, but swam back the way I had crept. There they parked again on the dirt bank and rolled, played and nipped at each other. I walked in plain view of them until I was about 30 yards away. They were fine as long as I kept that distance which was fine for me. A great day of watching a couple of my favorite river creatures at play.

Rising Costs of the Future

Thought I'd continue along the same theme as last post with the importance of investing in our future. Now that Obama has taken office, our economy is tanking and jobs are being cut, I wanted to share a little more bleak news...and give some hope and optimism along the way.

By the way, the photos are a couple that I have of my dad teaching. The top one is of him early in his teaching career. When he retired from the Air Force, he took a position in New Iberia, LA as a Jr ROTC Squadron Commander. I was entering the 9th grade and to all my friends, he was Colonel Hester...or The Colonel. Many kids wouldn't want their dad teaching at the same school, but all my friends and I really liked having him around. The bottom one , I believe is when he was in Roswell, New Mexico working on the Atlas Missile Project. It really shows how much he enjoyed kids. This project was critical at the time due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. With Russian missiles pointed in our direction, their team was responsible for getting the systems on-line and ready. They were able to accomplish this on time, but it was a tense period for all involved.

I read a couple articles this last week or so that painted a stark picture of college financial aids availability during this economic crunch.
One from Yahoo, ( College Financial Aid System Facing Stiff Test ), outlines the challenges kids and families are going to be facing in the near future. Not only are loans and grants going to be more difficult to get, but the number of people needing the aid is rising. Obviously cash strapped government agencies and private foundations and businesses are finding it difficult to find the money for this aid, but according to the article, there is more than a 10% increase in requests. Private student loans have been hit as well. Last year there were 60 companies offering these. 39 have stopped lending to students.
There is some good news, or at least it's not as bad as it could be. There is money out there and the government is broadening federal loans and looking at more increase next year. Check out
Collegeboard.com for more info and direction. Here in North Carolina, all high school students and parents should look at www.cfnc.org/ The College Foundation of North Carolina. You can check out, compare, and apply to all 110 colleges in North Carolina, including Community Colleges.

The other article covers the importance of funding education and how our country depends on our investment toward it.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/john-farrell/2008/12/3/the-rising-cost-of-college-is-a-good-reason-to-spread-the-wealth.html?s_cid=related-links:TOP
In my opinion, it is absolutely on the mark. Politics aside, we are not a nation that due to our bloodlines, have a intellectual edge over the rest of the world. No offense to my parents or grandparents, but it's not just their status as Americans, but it was their education that made us a great, productive, creative and driven country. But today, our success isn't a sure thing. The article provides some short and concise reasons for investing in our future through education. Please read and tell me what you think. As the author writes, "their young uns are getting smarter than our young uns" Accordingly, the author also quotes Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican in similar economic times, who believed that the wealthy had an obligation to state because he benefited from the state. "The American way is to favor new blood-not old money." My hope is that we can raise enough to fund some new blood for our future.