In Commemoration of My Friend, John (Jack) Fitzgerald Kennedy

When it comes to politics these days, if you ask me, I might give you a glare showing my lack of interest in it. However, you bring up events in American history (or any history for that matter), I’ll do the best I can to follow you. This is the day- November 22, 2008 that marks the 45th anniversary when America lost one of its greatest leaders ever. We lost our dear, beloved President John F. Kennedy. A lot of people who were around back in 1963, recall that exact moment of where they were, whether a child or an adult in school, or at work when they found out the horrible news that the 35th president of the United States had been assassinated. In more recent years, most of us can relate to where we were and what we were doing on September 11, 2001 when America had been attacked.

A lot of older people I had talked to who were around back in 1963 remember the assassination and said they felt they had lost one of their own family members or friends the day that Kennedy was killed. Anyone who recalls knew that it was a fateful day in Dallas on November 22, 1963. It was just before noon when Air Force One landed at Dallas’s Love Field after the short hop over from Fort Worth. Dallas News coverage surrounded the airplane, the people and the majority of the parade motorcade. The crowd cheered and applauded as the young president emerged out of Air Force One behind his wife, Jackie in her bright pink dress. Not a cloud was in the sky. It was sunny and beautiful all throughout that morning. And just like September 11, 2001 as cliché as it sounds, November 22, 1963 started out like any other ordinary day. President Kennedy and his wife were greeted by then, Texas governor, John Connally, and his wife, Nellie. But the president just couldn’t leave without first greeting people and shaking hands, which made the crowd at Love Field so grateful. Finally, the governor with his wife brought the president and his wife to the presidential limousine that would take them through downtown Dallas. As the parade progressed, the images you saw of the president were all positive. Friendly waves as he was patting down his hair from the breeze that went through it. Following behind was vice president Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Ladybird.

12:29- the limo turning onto Houston St. from Main St. around the entrance to historic Dealey Plaza. Nellie Connally remarks to President Kennedy, “Mr. President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you!”

12:30- limo turning from Houston onto Elm St. Just a few seconds later, the man with a family, all the fame, all the fortune, and all the power was eliminated as bullets rang out all across the plaza.

12:31- the limo races 4.5 miles down to Parkland Memorial Hospital where the president is taken quickly into the trauma center.

1:00 pm- after blood transfusions are made in any effort to save the president, a priest administers last rights and President Kennedy is pronounced dead.
From that point on, history is made. VP LBJ takes the oath of office and is sworn in onboard Air Force One shortly before taking off back to Washington. The next days and week is grueling for the Kennedys and the nation.

The Assassination is controversial as to whether or not it was a conspiracy. I have studied it many times for my personal interest, but that’s not what this is about. This is to commemorate who I feel like to me was a friend whom many people knew.

I did not enter the world until the late 80s, but watching and hearing Kennedy speak, I feel like I knew him and would have probably met him if I would have been around back in his time. He could really bring himself down to the common man in his speeches and appearances. His family was the example of the American family that people wanted to have. There were your political parties, but that didn’t matter as much as the things that did matter that included what he did. The list is long, but a few that stand out:

President Kennedy was the creator of the Peace Core
He kept America from going to war after the Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba
He declared that America would one day venture to the moon before 1970
Supported Martin Luther King Jr. and the vision they shared to end civil discrimination

He came before America to tell people the way it was and that’s why there was a lot of admiration for him. It was just so sad and shocking to see his life come to an end at such a young age and for his wife and children who had lost their husband and father.

In a crowd of hundreds, I was overcome by silence and sacredness as I stood at Mr. Kennedy’s eternal flame gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery. Standing in Dealey Plaza on this day 45 years ago, I started shivering and trembling with tears during a ceremony when an eye witness to that day sang Amazing Grace and her voice was all you heard. You could have heard a pin drop!

Whether you were around during his time or not, I could feel it in me as I stood in silence on the cold day in Washington when I visited knowing that in that grave lays the remains of a great leader and someone who had acknowledged the presence and existence in God and had trusted in Him and made his peace with God. And I could feel it as I stood in Dealey Plaza this day to remember John F. Kennedy as a person while Amazing Grace captivated everyone on in the plaza.

Thanks Mr. President
In Loving Memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy- loving Husband, Father, Son, Brother, and Friend

May 29, 1917- November 22, 1963

Taking the "American" Out of "...Airlines"

In the recent years of my life, or since I have come to college, I have been flying more and more. I have flown home each year for breaks, and have flown to other places throughout the country and the world. Of course, as someone who is pursuing the aviation industry as a potential career airline pilot, I can't help but to always pay close, serious attention to the airline industry through every phase of flight, the quality of service, flight status, etc. Though I don't publish any of my comments or accounts, I manage my own airline reviews because it sparks my own interests in that industry.

I honestly feel bad sometimes for the airline industry. They suffer through a lot that we as passenger don't always see. It's not the airline industry's fault that they have had to raise fare prices in recent months and years due to the rising costs of oil and gasoline. And I know of some airline executives who take the guilt personally whenever they have to lay off any of their employees because they can only afford to keep so many pilots, flight attendants, or mechanics, or other employees, as well as having to stop certain flights at different times of the day to certain destinations because they are not getting enough customers to fill those airplanes to capacity. At the same time, it does make it difficult on the average economy class passenger when you have certain services provided by the airline that were once free such as luggage, meals, blankets, pillows, and entertainment, which that person now has to pay for. Through the struggle, you still manage to find common ground with the employees. Maybe not so much with the pilots since you don't really see them because of the demand they have to control the airplane and keep up on the radio with Air Traffic Control, but perhaps you can detect it in the friendliness of their voices over the intercom. And maybe you find it when you get personal service by the flight attendants. What I am saying is that they have shared the burden with us in the frustrations everyone has had with the airline industry and the FAA, but there is one airline in particular who, when they experience one problem, makes it a problem for everyone else, including their own customers. That would be our own patriotic carrier, American Airlines, the world's largest air carrier established by their parent company, AMR Corp. of Fort Worth, Texas, with American's home hub to its fleet of aircraft from the 1970s up to now based out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

I was sitting in my reporting class one day when my professor walked in. She is working on her doctorate out at Texas Tech in Lubbock. This woman is amazing! She is first off one of the nicest and understanding professors I have ever encountered, and she is really strong and dedicated to her work. She flies out of DFW airport every week to attend class at night out at Tech, then comes back to DFW the next morning to teach my class. Her program of study is only offered at Texas Tech, which is the closest to home. She flies on American and usually American has nonstop jet service to Lubbock Airport. But she was furious at the fact that they used a 1970s dirty, loud, bumpy, vibrating, twin-engine turboprop by SAAB. It's a SAAB 340B Turboprop aircraft and I strongly sympathize with her. For one she said, it was very loud and it hurt her ears. Two was that you pay money for the seat you get and then the flight attendants move you around because with the 340B being such a small airplane, they have to have the right balanced power-weight ratio for takeoff. It's really dumb that they have those planes in service because of this. They're not very fast and it is pointless to be flying them at all. And Three was that the aircraft was very filthy. These things were what made my professor angry, and I have to say that I have been through that myself as well as extra problems I have dealt with personally in general with the quality of service of American Airlines.

My experience with American has included having lost luggage more than once, delayed flights, and the worst was that I have seen some American employees just be really rude to anyone, even including their customers. Yes, I was abroad this summer, coming back from Asia. I was in China all summer. I had had excellent travel to China and back to the states. Going to China, I took U.S. Airways from DFW to Las Vegas. From Vegas to Seoul, Korea, I flew on Korean Air. And from Seoul to the city in China, I took Korean Air. Every single Korean Air flight was awesome! I came from China back to Seoul on Korean Air and then from Seoul to Los Angeles (LAX) on Korean Air. The final leg of my travel back to Texas was on an American Airlines Boeing MD-80 jet from LAX-DFW. The MD-80 is not the smoothest of jetliners, but it was better than a turboprop. As passengers boarded the plane, the flight attendant said that they were sick of dealing with people. Right there, I was ready to explode, but I calmy walked passed and took my seat. More than once, I have lost luggage on American flights. More than once, I have been delayed, and more than once, I have seen or experienced rude attitude and behavior by American employees. Not everyone at American is rude. My friend's dad is a 757 and 767 captain for American Airlines, but when it comes to customer service, they have a horrible record and other things as well.

Perhaps it's easier to keep track of these things when you have an interest in them. That has helped me be observant, but also because American is based here in Dallas/Fort Worth. Business information regarding American is in the paper a lot here where they are established then they would be somewhere else like Cincinnati, Ohio where more attention is diverted to Comair and its parent company, Delta Airlines because Cincinnati's airport is Delta's second largest hub right under Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Write ups on American have appeared almost weekly in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper.

And then I think back to the spring of this year if you recall with me. All over the country, news had come out that the FAA had been too relaxed in its reltionship with the airlines maintaining safety standards. The first airline exposed was Southwest Airlines, based out of Dallas Love Field, followed by American, Delta, and U.S. Airways. Southwest was exposed for over-flying 41 of its Boeing 737 jets without going through regular scheduled safety inspection. Delta had to ground several Boeing MD-88s and MD-90s to have inspections performed and US Airways discovered some problems by finding cracks on the fuselage of some of their 757s. But even with this problem on some of the planes, airline officials got to work and fixed the problem almost right away. There is a common-sense rule in the aviation industry. The rule is that for so many hours of flight, the aircraft must go through check-up inspection to make sure nothing is found wrong that would become a hazard.

American on the other hand realized that out of their Boeing MD-80 fleet, all 300 MD-80s had to be grounded, causing them to stop most inner-range U.S. flights on American. The problem with the MD-80 was that mechanics did not keep up regular maintenance inspection of a bundle of wires just above the front wheel well in the nose of the airplane. Any MD-80 mechanic will tell you that if those wires come loose, they can become a hazard. If the wires were to get caught by the landing gear, they could start to spark, possibly causing an explosion with the fuel line not being so far away from the landing gear. There would be no hope for anyone onboard an MD-80 that would go down for that reason.

Each MD-80 has the capacity to hold over 100 passengers. What this resulted in was American inconveniencing more 200,000 of their customers per day because the inspection took more than one day on most of the jets and they are supposed to fly everyday to profit. Thousands of people across the U.S. from New York, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities were stranded two or three days because American did not keep up with maintenance. It is partially the FAA's fault due to relaxed relationship with the airlines, but it's more so the airlines because they are the ones that do all the work on their aircraft. American knew the whole time that they were supposed to keep up maintenance. That does not dismiss other carriers like Southwest, but the repercussions were not as strong for other carriers like they were for American. I was a little bit frightened. The incident occured in April. I had just bought a ticket through American to go home after the spring semester would end to have about two weeks with family before leaving the country all summer. I was frightened that I would not make it because of a mistake that American made. Thankfully to say the least, I made it.

Earlier this Fall, Fort Worth Star-Telegram did a review over the quality of U.S. air carriers. Star-Telegram consulted, statistics and customer reviews over service, the handling of luggage, and how much the flights were on time. Among the top of the list was Frontier Airlines, a small domestic low-fare carrier based out of Denver that continues growing. Followed by Frontier came Dallas's own Southwest, with Northwest, US Airways, Delta, and AirTran Airways trailing behind. The very bottom of the list- yours truly- American Airlines with the worst record. American had been blasted for their horrible customer service and friendliness, constantly losing luggage, and the timeliness of flights. Most American flights were either delayed or canceled.

Flying has always been my love and passion in life. Any time I get to fly, I always feel like I get to be as much a part of the airplane and crew as the crew themselves are. I always get a window seat. Even with turbulent weather, I still enjoy flying and seeing how the skills of two pilots can take the great plane I'm on up into the stratosphere. Even on rainy and messy days, I prepare to get some sun by sliding on my aviator sunglasses because the sun is just on the top side of the clouds that separate the gloomy bottom. Every day that I fly, I get on a plane not knowing any of the crew personally, but knowing that those crew members are my friends because of their passion and love for the business and flight itself, alone. And as soon as I sit down and prepare for flight, I open up the in-flight magazine to read a personal, warm, friendly and sincere welcome message by the airline's CEO and the CEO's hope that they will see me again in the near future on another flight with their airline. And I enjoy the welcome announcement once landing and arriving to my final destination. It's always "May you enjoy your stay here or wherever your final destination may be" announcement. But never before have I dreaded flights then when I fly on American. I normally try to get a word in with the pilots and flight attendants as I board and pass the cockpit, getting a quick look into the sanctuary of where they control the plane. I normally try to thank them before and after for their friendliness and their wonderful service to me and fellow passengers. But when I have boarded an American flight, I have thought to myself, I better just not say anything to them so I don't have to hear them complain about having me onboard.

Though airline travel isn't what it used to be because of economical struggles, it doesn't have to be more of a problem than what it already is. So my words to you, American: "Learn some respect and learn how to use it by hiring people with good customer service skills. If you can't find those people, train them yourselves. There's no excuse for the difficulties you have made on yourself and your customers. Take a hint and lesson from other airlines. Maybe you'll understand why you continue to lose customers."

Special Thanks To:

Korean Air- Excellence In Flight

AirTran Airways- Go! There's Nothing Stopping You!

Continental Airlines- Work Hard, Fly Right!

Southwest Airlines- You're Now Free To Move About The Country!

United Airlines- Come Fly Chicago's Hometown Airline

Northwest Airlines

U.S. Airways

Delta Airlines

Comair

Who I am and What I Want You To Know

Howdy Folks,

I want to welcome you to my blog! A lot of you are probably friends with me on facebook and it is likely that you clicked on the link from my profile page to get here. I feel like having a blog will allow me to extend thoughts, ideas, interests, and beliefs beyond what you see about me, or anyone for that fact on facebook. One reason that I created the blog is so that you, my friend and reader, can get to know me more personally. Facebook gives you all the basic information, such as who I am, friends I have, religious affiliation, political views, relationship status, etc. But this is to expand on that. You can only write so much in a facebook note. And you can only tag so many people per note. The goal is that I do not want there to be any limits on how many people can get tagged or how many people can read about things I write.

You will see me post thoughts on a lot of different subjects. There are many things I have interests in. I feel that having a blog will allow me to connect and share them with you more personally than I could ever do on facebook. But a few topics I will most likely write more on than anything else will be over my relationship with Jesus Christ, my experiences that I have found significant in my life, and my experience as an aviator and one who seeks to pursue aviation.

This is your grand welcome to my site! It is my pleasure to be able to share with you. For the past 2 and a half years, or since I have had a facebook account, I have always written an end-of-the-year facebook note that reflects what I've learned and experienced within the last 365 days of the life that I have had. I will still post that to facebook, but I will also be posting that story to this site as well to make it more available to non-facebookers!

A little bit of an intro I want to give you about myself: I am going to be extremely BOLD on this site. I am not going to hold back an opinion about an issue or something, even if I think it would offend someone. You want to know more about me, so you will have the chance to find out more about me here than you would probably on facebook. If you're afraid to see what I say, then don't waste your time coming here. I'm just feeding you my thoughts is all. If you want to go further with me on something, you're welcome anytime to comment on anything I publish and if necessary, I can contact you and we can further discuss what you want to know on a personal level.

I first want to start off by saying that I am not a perfect person. That's the obvious statement. But I want you to know how I feel on the subject that all mankind can reach perfection. I am a follower of Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God. My religion is Christianity and further branches down into me being a Southern Baptist. But I want to make it clear that Jesus Christ was a real man who lived and died a perfect life on this earth. He and God are completely separate from religion. There is a reason why we humans are not perfect. It is because of the problem we have called Sin that exists in our lives. Sin is what we do that goes against God. Sin is not necessarily the right or the wrong decisions that we do in our lives according to others. It's the wrong that we do according to God. Jesus said, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). You and I dear friend, were created to have fellowship with the perfect, sovereign, almighty, righteous God! But because of our sin, our selfishness, and our own stubborn self-will, we chose to go our way, and that is why our fellowship with God is broken. Have you ever thought about why you have many problems? Man is separated. "The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23). Wage is what you make or what you are paid when you do a job for example. The wages of our sin is death. But that's not where it ends! That's where Jesus comes in! We deserve death for our sin. We do not have to have that death because Jesus Christ died in our place. God died on the cross for you, for me, and for everyone who ever lived, currently lives, and will one day live! He died on the cross! He did not deserve that death! He was the only one who ever lived a perfect life free of sin. We should have all died instead of Him. His grace has been discovered by the death on the cross that He died for us. "God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Have you started feeling guilty yet? Because believe it or not, that's not the end result! Jesus rose from the dead! That's right!!! "Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to His twelve disciples (or followers). After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). The thing is that people want to have proof that Christ existed. That's it right here! People witnessed Him after He was killed and buried. They saw Him alive, again!!! And these people recorded this! Nothing is hidden! It's right there! And Jesus is the only way to God! "Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me' " (John 14:6).

So now you wonder how that relates to you? VERY SIMPLE! Follow these steps with your heart:

1. You MUST Receive Jesus

We must individually receive Jesus Christ into our hearts as our one and only Savior and Lord. It is only then that we can truly know and experience God's real love and plan for our lives. "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).

2. Receiving Christ through Faith

Inviting Jesus into your heart and life is a free gift. But you must take it. Someone can give you a gift, but you have to take it in order to receive it. "By grace you have been saved through faith; not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9). This is all done by God. Not of ourselves. We did not do anything of our own. It was all from God! Remember? Because we're not perfect and we make mistakes-sin, which proves our faults. Telling others that you're a Christian, a believer, or a follower of Christ is not a great act for self. It is humbly confessing that you have acknowledged that your life is messed up because of the sin you have and it simply shows that you have asked Jesus; the real treasure of life into your heart to guide you through your life.

3. You Receive Christ through personal invitation

You ask Jesus into your life! It's not your words that make a difference. It's the content of your heart. Are you really asking Him into your life from deep inside your heart? "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come to him" (Revelation 3:20).

Receiving Christ means turning away from yourself and turning to God. You gotta trust Christ and ask Him to come into your life and to forgive you for your sin and to make you what He wants you to be! Just to agree at a conversation level that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough! Not even enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith!

4. How to know Christ is in your Life

Jesus said and promised (Revelation 3:20) that He would come into your life. Would He mislead you? What authority do you know that God has answered your prayer? (The trustworthiness of God Himself and His Word).

5. The Bible Promises Eternal Life to all who receive Christ

"For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but shall have eternal life!" (John 3:16)

How much clearer can it be? You have the evidence, the free gift of Jesus, and His promise to you for the plan with your life!

How can you pursue it?

Pray/talk to God daily (John 15:7). Ask Him to help you with whatever is unclear or you need help with that's in your life. Read God's Word (the Bible) daily (Acts 17:11). Start with the Gospel of John. It will really help you answer questions about your faith that you have as a new believer. Obey God moment by moment (John 14:21). It's not about what you or what others want you to do. It's about what God wants you to do! Witness for Christ by your life and words (Matthew 4:19, John 15:8). Show others Christ is in you by striving to daily live a Christ-filled life; not a religion-filled life. Trust God for every single detail of your life (1 Peter 5:7). This is one that I have recently been learning to do a lot more, and it feels so good to trust in Him with everything and not myself to deal with it. I know I would screw up on my own! Holy Spirit- allow God to control and empower your daily life and witness (Galations 5:16, 17: Acts 1:8). Find a good church! God instructs that we should not forsake "the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 10:25).

As you can tell, this is something I passionately strive to try and meet every day that I live. Not every day is as good as the other. Becoming a believer of Christ does not mean all your problems will disappear. But He will give you guidance and even when we only see the bad things that has happened, God already sees the good of it before it even happens! I have my bad days here and there. But ultimately having Jesus and reaching people who do not have Jesus is the absolute most important thing in the life He has given you! Do not take it for grant it! Share this with the nations! "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).

Last comment: I don't know if this is already an existing original statement, but I'll claim it as mine and then if anyone else claims it, I will give it to them. I have said it to myself and to others many times before. "There is no greater joy than having Jesus Christ in our lives and getting to lead others to Him!" How to save a life? God enables you to share His Son, Jesus with others! He works through you in that time giving you the words to say, and the heart to do it. You just gotta ask for opportunities and you'll begin to see opportunities all over the place! Everywehere you go! It's exciting! People all over the world are seeking God; they just don't know it and can't get a clear grip on it sometimes. Every time I get to share with a non-believer, regardless of what the results are, I feel like I have had a part in getting to rescue someone from a burning building. God enabled me to go into that person's life and see the sin they are in (the burning building) and with God's power running through me, to reach their soul with God's love and pull them out of the fire.

Thank you and I wish you a wonderful day filled in the spirit of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Cordially,

Matt Wallace