The Parachute Packer - the Best Story I Have Ever Heard

Lt. General Stuart Beare spoke to our Leadership Class this winter. He told the best story I have ever heard. I want to share that story with you.

Back in the 1960s there was an officer, Captain Charlie Plumb, who flew jet fighters off the aircraft carrier the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. On what turned out to be his last sortie he was shot down and ended up spending six years as a POW with the Vietcong. Some years later he was eating at a restaurant in Kansas City. Charlie tells how, "A man about two tables away kept looking at me. I didn't recognize him. A few minutes into our meal he stood up and walked over to my table, looked down at me, pointed his finger in my face and said, "You're Captain Plumb."

I looked up and I said, "Yes sir, I'm Captain Plumb."

-Article by Karl Moore

Read full article: Forbes, July 18, 2012