A man named Plumb was a fighter pilot in Vietnam who flew missions from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. Plumb was shot down by a surface to air missile and parachuted into the hands of the enemy, spending six years as a prisoner of war.

Plumb was released and many years later he and his wife were having lunch at a restaurant when a man from another table walked up and said “you are Plumb, the fighter pilot who flew missions in Vietnam from the Kitty Hawk”. Startled, Plumb replied “how did you know that?” The man replied, “I packed your parachute”. Of course both Plumb and his wife expressed their sincere gratitude to the man, but that evening Plumb could not sleep thinking about the man. Plumb realized that because this man was an enlisted sailor and he was an officer they had probably never spoken and Plumb realized how often we go through life without thanking or acknowledging people who pack our parachutes and help us in so many ways.