Repetitive Training
Chip Bork was on his second strafing run trying to knock out a German tank when “all hell broke loose.” Ground fire ripped through his P-47 fighter, wounding him severely and starting a fire in the cockpit. In a state of shock and semiconsciousness, he was only vaguely aware of the next few moments. His first clear recollection was a loud pop as he looked up to see his parachute open above him and himself floating free of his spiraling aircraft.
Later, witnesses helped him piece together what happened. When the fire started he turned his plane upside down, unlatched and opened the canopy. He unfastened his seat belt and pushed the stick forward to safely bail out. Then he pulled the rip cord to deploy his chute. He remembered none of this. He was thankful that he had his Catechism and Prayer Book in his pocket at the time, and felt that it was “a miracle that I survived.” He was also thankful for the training that had prepared him for this moment:
I would quarrel about doing certain things over and over, things that I felt I already knew how to do, but my instructor insisted that I do them again just to make sure that I understood and got it right. I have often thought back to the day when I was shot down over St. Lo, and the sub-conscious actions I took to save my life in that emergency situation. I must give credit to heroes of mine, those very farsighted Pilot Training Instructors, for the grueling and repetitive training they put me through. I shall never forget them.289
This story is a tribute to demanding teachers everywhere. I have the same affectionate respect for my high school algebra teacher, Mr. S. L. Lemmon. He was the toughest teacher I ever had. Under his wary eye generations of students did the hard, repetitive work necessary for a solid grounding in algebra. We are blessed to have educators who set high standards and who have the moral courage to hold themselves and their students to them. Such teachers are surely doing God’s work in this world and richly deserve our appreciation.
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
—James 3:1