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Episode 19 “Then the captain said …”
Sitting in the captain’s office, I was surprised how calm and relaxed I was.
I knew the captain wasn’t going to tell me I would be given conscientious objector status. In the paperwork I filled out I made a point of saying I was not a conscientious objector.
Which meant something else would happen to me.
But I wasn’t worried about what the something else would be. I had done what the Lord wanted me to do, so the results were in God’s hands.
That’s a good place to be.
The captain had a smile on his face.
This was not the guy who yelled at me just a few days earlier.
Was he enjoying what he was about to tell me.
A Question
“What would you like to do?” the captain asked in a pleasant voice.
I really didn’t understand the question.
What was he asking?
“Would you like to work in a warehouse?” the captain continued.
I didn’t know where this was going.
“Would you like to be a door gunner?” he then asked.
Now the captain really had me confused.
Just so you know, a door gunner was the guy who controlled the machine gun out of the side of a helicopter. Apparently, there was a long waiting list for people who wanted that particular job.
Did he really mean to ask me if I wanted to be a door gunner? Or was he playing with my mind? Trying to trap me into saying something that would get me into even more trouble than I was in?
I honestly didn’t know how to respond.
Then the captain leaned forward and smiled as he spoke gently, “If you could have your choice of any job, what would it be?”
Okay, this was definitely not the way I had expected the conversation to go, but I decided to answer.
“I’d could see being a medic,” I said.
I knew that was not a real option. I mean what was he going to do? Send me back to the states to go through the medic school at Fort Sam Houston? But if he seriously wanted to know what I would like to do a medic seemed like a fun job.
The captain sat quietly for a few moments. He was thinking about something. Then he spoke.
“I’ll take care of it,” the captain said.
And I was dismissed.
The journey continues
I went back to my bunk and tried to figure out what had just happened. None of it made sense. None of it seemed real. I wasn’t arrested. I wasn’t being court martialed. I wasn’t going to prison.
The next day I was told to report to the Aid Station for the 3/82 Artillery.
I grabbed all my gear — one duffle bag — and went to the aid station.
I was introduced to the doctor for our unit, and he explained that he was going to teach me to be a medic.
And I began the next stage of my journey in the Army.
Sometimes God prepares us to go through difficult times, and He gives us strength to do that.
But sometimes God chooses to bless us beyond our wildest dreams.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
At this point in my Army career, God chose to bless me far beyond anything I could have thought possible.
God is great!
19 "Then the captain said ..."