Staff Sargent John Henry Bell

I had the opportunity to interview a man by the name of John Bell after Christmas of 2007. We exchanged stories for a while and talked about how life had been recently. At the time, he was 87 years old, living in an assisted living apartment. Over the past few years, his eyesight has dimmed, but not his wit or his intellect. Once he became comfortable talking to us, I started asking stories about the war, for he is a veteran of World War II. Slowly, but surely, the stories once again began to come out.

The year was 1941, and John had recently enlisted in the United States Army. He was 21 years old. The war effort was underway, but the United States was not yet directly involved.
John was stationed near San Francisco, California. One day there was a Navy pilot flying above the city and decided to push the boundaries. So, he took the Navy plane, took a dive, and flew it under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was quite the dangerous stunt to pull off and could have gone disastrously wrong. The cost of this stunt? That pilot forever lost his wings. "Son of a buck!"

One Saturday night, he went to a football game with some buddies. They went out and had a good time, partying away. They received an order early Sunday morning to report back to base immediately: Pearl Harbor had just been attacked.

Their job soon evolved to include many new positions. One job was to "clear out the coast", so in following with orders, they moved all people of Japanese decent off of the coastline. It was a known fact that there were two little submarines patrolling in the bay. They may have been similar to two one-man Japanese subs that were found off of the coast of Australia. These were kamasaki submarines: the pilot climbed in, they clamped the door down, and "that was your casket".
(American B-25)

One day, John received an order to join a small grouping of soldiers on a mission. They were issued warm weather clothes, but no further details. They headed to their little B-25 plane with a group of 13 soldiers: an engineer, pilot, co-pilot, and 10 soldiers. They began to fly and headed into the night and began to island hop as they flew west. As they were flying, they headed straight into a huge thunderstorm with lighting shooting on either side of them. However, they were never struck by lightning because the plane itself was not grounded. This continued with close calls and constant lightning flashes for another half an hour. Then suddenly, the clouds opened, you could see the stars reflecting on the ocean, and they flew out into clear moonlight. (Japanese Zero)
"The Japs had planes called Zeros. They could take out B-25s right and left. But then we got P41s & P47 ad those could do something!"




(American P-41 & P-47)

"McArthur and Patton were tough SoBs. They were mean, but with good educations. There's smart people, and then there's intelligent people. Those two were intelligent." And speaking of education, John also mentioned that he had taken the pilot's test for the Air Force with no training to speak of. But, despite the fact that he passed, he was not accepted because he did not hold a high school diploma. John Bell served his country from 1941 - 1946. He was on his way to the Philippines when the war ended. Overall, there were 16 million soldiers who were drafted into the service.

Thanks, Grandpa.

Update on My Father's Job

So, my Dad finally hear about the Dean's position at MCTC today. Read on (to hear it from him) and then see a note from me at the bottom...

Dear family and friends,
Today I got a call from the Sr. VP of MCTC, I was informed that they selected one of the other finalists for the Dean of Workforce Development and she accepted the position. I sincerely appreciate everyone's prayers, support, and encouragement. I can truly say that I gave it my very best effort. The other finalists had current direct experience in continuing education and customized training. They said they would keep me in mind for other opportunities. I am glad that I was able to stay under the radar here in Nevada and still have my job ... we are making great progress (on most days) providing employment services to people with disabilities. Again thanks for your prayers and support ... God has a plan ... it is a long and winding road. I'm reminded of Proverbs 3:5-6 a favorite verse of mine at times like these:
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight."
God bless you all!
Mick

So, I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your support during this process. No, it's not easy to hear this news, but after not hearing anything last week, I was preparing myself for this. Keep him and my family in your prayers and may His Will be done! I don't have anything to add to what my Dad said. God bless!

Prayer Request

Many of you have gotten e-mails from me over the last couple of weeks regarding my dad's job situation. Very brief synopsis: he's been working in Nevada for the last 3.5 years after being laid off in MN. Great job, bad location. Under the radar from NV, he applied for a Dean's position at a Minneapolis college where he used to be a professor. Read on...

Hot Off the Press!

I just got a call from the Chair of the Search Committee at Minneapolis
Technical and Community College related to the position I interviewed for
last Friday: Dean of Workforce Development.

They interviewed 8 people and have narrowed the field to 3 finalists ... I
am one of the finalist. The follow up interviews with the President and Vice
President of the MCTC will be in a couple of weeks. Since I "serve at the
pleasure" in my existing job ... I'm trying to stay under the radar as long
as possible. The finalists are public information, but they are not
broadcast.

I sincerely appreciate your support and prayers ... I will keep you posted
as we go to the next level.

God bless!
Mick
So, prayers are needed now, more than ever. When I got the e-mail a few minutes ago, I started freaking out. (Just ask Jeremy Osterhouse) :) He likened it to being in a state tournament, now he has to be the best out of the top 3 competitors. God can do this if He wants to though. Lord, I'm handing this over to You even more than before. Hold my family in Your hands and move in power. Bless and guide all of those who are involved in this process. (But, oh Father, You know how badly I want this, how much we need this.) Take it, Lord, and move... Amen!

A Toast to my brother

Today is my brother Johnny's 20th birthday. I have a lot of love and respect for that man. He has grown a lot over the past couple of years and really come into his own element. Like me, he has a lot of passion for life and the relationships therein. I'm proud of his initiative for going way the heck over to George Mason to study Sports Management. Sports have always been a huge part of Johnny's life ever since he was about five or six years old: T-Ball, Biking, Baseball, Soccer, Roller-Blading, Ice Skating, Basketball, Golf, Lacrosse, Tennis... just not running! He'll be great at it once he finds his niche. He's got a great girlfriend, Erika, who is already starting to be a part of the family... she fits right in!

Johnny and I have always been close: both while growing up and now. I love that bond that I'm able to share with him. Part of it was probably the fact that we were the same size and everyone thought we were twins while we were growing up. (Because I was so small, he caught up to me in height and weight when he was two years old and I was four.) I cherish those countless talks that we've had late at night. Some of my favorite memories are probably the times he would come into my room during high school and sit on my bed, just wanting to talk. We obviously don't see each other that much right now, but we'll still talk on the phone. It's not as much as I would want or an ideal situation... but it works.

Happy Birthday, Johnny, I love ya'!
(Photo courtesy of Bob Cunningham)