A gift that keeps on giving

Derrick Rigs, right, enjoys some stick time with Dick Trail.

Courtesy photo

The local chapter of DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) presented a Certificate of Award to Linda Nielsen and her local Lutheran Church Adopt a Chaplain crew for Excellence in Community Service. As most in this community know Adopt a Chaplain is an effort to send care packages to military chaplains deployed overseas in current areas of turmoil. The chaplains then distribute the goodies to their troops serving in somewhat austere locations. Importantly those care packages also include personal notes for servicemen and women far from home who sometimes receive no mail from home. Lonely!

Included in the Certificate of Awards was one to your old columnist’s wonderful wife Grannie Annie who some decade ago started the community effort. Under Ann Trail’s aegis several thousand boxes were sent until due to age Grannie realized that she could no longer continue in her leadership role. Thankfully Linda Nielsen, retired RN, stepped forth to take the reins leading a great crew of helpers from the local Peace Lutheran church.

It may have been a God thing but also attending the ceremony of awards a special guest was present. Grannie Annie was proud to present Derrick Riggs, Army Chaplain Lieutenant Colonel Retired! Chaplain Riggs and his troops had been on the receiving end of some 86 boxes, care packages, that Grannie Annie and her crew had sent on his first deployment to Afghanistan some ten plus years ago. After Grannie’s introduction Derrick stood before the group in the Museum and spoke of what a morale booster those packages meant to his troops there in that godforsaken country so far from home especially at Christmas.

Actually Riggs had been the chaplain for the special forces teams that was our first presence in Afghanistan some of which used horses for transportation in the mountainous countryside. Proudly they called themselves “horse soldiers.”

It was nine years ago that Chaplain Riggs, at his own expense following that first tour, came to this community to express his thanks. It was July so Grannie Annie hosted a picnic, here in our garage where they’d packed, that her crew gathered to celebrate Chaplain Riggs presence and to hear of the good that those care packages had done for his beloved troops deployed so far from home.

At that first visit Chaplain Riggs, in uniform, also spoke to our local McCook Methodist Congregation who at that time were helping to sponsor Grannie Annie’s Adopt a Chaplain efforts.

Then after church those nine years ago this old long-time aviator took the young man out to our airport and gave him a ride in my old Aeronca Champ trainer airplane. He said that he always had a desire to learn to fly but felt called to do the Lord’s work, as a chaplain following in his father’s footsteps, rather than pursue a career as a military aviator.

Evidently my ride set the hook and the bobber went completely out of sight because a year of so ago when he retired he has pursued flight training in the civilian world. He is now rated as a pilot with ratings of Private, Commercial, single and multi-engine, and Instrument. Paid for thankfully by the GI Bill earned through service to his country.

Several months ago when I learned of Derrick’s achievements in aviation I extended him an invitation to come out from his home in South Carolina and I, a long time flight instructor, could teach him to fly an aircraft with a tail wheel, the same old Champ that he had gotten his first ride nine years ago.

He happened to arrive here on Grannie Annie and my 65th wedding anniversary, a good thing, and we three celebrated over a nice dinner at the Coppermill. Then fly fly fly. We both enjoyed the training and I found him to be an apt student. The weather didn’t exactly cooperate as gusty crosswinds are a bit tough especially in the old tail-wheel configurated airplanes but actually that was good training for adverse conditions.

Being unmarried, Derrick has set up for himself a private company, an LLC, where he will be available to ferry aircraft for pilots who have purchased one a distance from their home and need it delivered to their home base or to a buyer that needs the delivery a distance from their home.

He had already bid to deliver an old Taylorcraft, some similar to my Champ, from Minnesota to Florida. So I asked one of my former students, Branson Schaffert, to give him a ride in his nice Taylorcraft here at McCook. On landing Derrick swore that no way could he fly that cramped up for the required delivery but he would see if he could substitute Branson, who is eager to do the trip.

Sadly, Chaplain Riggs lost his mother several years ago. So now Grannie Annie claims him as a son and the feeling is mutual.

My gift of flight continues giving so now Col retired Riggs is successfully endorsed to pilot a tailwheel airplane. Safe travels my friend.

That is how I saw it.

Dick Trail