Closure for MIA Soldier's Family.. Skydiving Jump Goes Wrong.. Rejection Renews Purpose

Monday, May 28, 2012 MIA Vietnam Soldier Laid To Rest 36 Years After Disappearance Every Memorial Day, I take out a scrapbook my grandmother made over 40 years ago. Each page is filled with headshots of young men with stiff Air Force hats clamped to their heads, their newly-buzzed hair just visible above formal collars. Some gaze at the camera confidently, their broad shoulders filling the frame, while others appear too young for the uniforms buttoned around their necks. Under every face is the exhortation: WHERE IS HE? My uncle's face is on page three. According to an eyewitness report, on the night of March 28, 1972, Edwin "Jack" Pearce and his 14-man crew boarded the AC-130 gunship "Prometheus" in the darkness of Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base bound for an armed reconnaissance mission over Laos. The slow-moving gunship was accompanied by 4-FE flying escorts, and it's from the vantage point of one of their pilots that the last known whereabouts of my uncle are recorded: It's 3 a.m. in Savannakhet, and Jack is in the narrow gunner's seat, his weapon trained on the jungle below. The pilot reports "three closely spaced surface-to-air-missile (SAM) firings and an unidentified radio transmission 'SAM.'" The sky lights up as the second SAM collides with Prometheus and she explodes in the sky, sending the burning remains tumbling to the ground. TERRIFYING VIDEO: 80-Year-Old Nearly Falls Out Of Harness While Skydiving The Rejection Letter That Renewed My Sense Of Purpose WATCH: Is This Footage Of A Mermaid On A Beach? Butt Seriously Folks, Did You Hear The One About the Colonoscopy? 6 Warm-Weather Low-Calorie Cocktails BLOG POSTS Brent Green: Is American Idol Ageist? On the Possibilities for a New Culture of Fame Older artists can achieve extraordinary dreams if given a chance. Barbara Weibel: Across Nepal, Thousands Demonstrate Against Demand for Provinces Based on Ethnicity It's been four long years in the making, but it now appears that the exuberant hopes for peace and prosperity that prevailed following the overthrow of the monarchy might finally be realized. Irvin G. Schorsch III: The Don't-Defer-Your-Life Approach to Financial Planning Too many people postpone what they really want to do until an undefined time in the future when they feel they can finally afford it. But what if "someday" never comes? Kerry Kennedy: Ode to My Best Friend -- Mary Richardson Kennedy Let's not remember Mary for her despair, but let's take inspiration from her determination to heal the woundedness in herself and in those she loved. Laverne H. Bardy: Why I Love Dining Out Most retirees spend money doing things they couldn't afford or didn't have time for before they retired. My guilty pleasure is eating out. Here's why.

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