Serving in the Rain

By Ed Brennan

This book is a story about a man named Eric. Eric was born and raised on the south side of Little Rock, Arkansas, to an Irish father and an Irish English mother. The story follows Eric on his journey through his chaotic upbringing, his downward spiral into the local drug scene, and his struggles with poverty. He thinks he finds his great solace in the arms of his first love, Erica, only to discover that neither one of them are ready for the never-ending relationship that Eric is seeking.

His only hope to escape the drug life and stagnate poverty of 1970s Little Rock is to join the US Air Force. While the military does help him find opportunity and stability, it cannot help him escape his demons from the past. There is hope. He does find a way through the love of a woman who helps him find God, adventure, and service to the one true King.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973656166

Ed Brennan

Ed Brennan has not only been fortunate to serve in the United States Air Force but also to be a pilot of general aviation aircraft. While serving in the military he was able to have many adventures, meet the love of his life, and finally find redemption in a way that inspired him to write about it.

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Copyright © 2019 Ed Brennan.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Cover art by Felicia Brennan.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5617-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5616-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019902743

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/06/2019

CONTENTS

1. So, There I Was …

2. The Shaping of Eric

3. This Isn’t the Way

4. North to Batanes

5. How Did I Get Here?

6. This Is the Air Force

7. First Mission

8. Time to Shake Things Up

9. New Beginnings

10. Little Schoolhouse on Cuyo

11. Marlene

12. Eric Meets Marlene

13. How Did This Happen?

14. Eric Goes to War

15. This Is How Accidents Are Born

16. Really, Korea?

17. What Is Lagay?

18. Kumantian

19. Back in the Air

20. Time for a Miracle

21. The Last Base/Final Transitions

22. Changes on the Horizon

1

SO, THERE I WAS …

P uerto Princessa approach, this is November five eight six three six.

November five eight six three six, this is Puerto Princessa approach.

Approach, we are three zero miles to your southwest, ten thousand five hundred feet. Inbound for landing.

November five eight six three six, report one zero miles out.

Report one zero miles out, and approach, we are expecting an ambulance to be standing by for our arrival.

Six three six, your ambulance is standing by.

Eric was excited about the turn of events that were finally coming together. Here he was, in a loaded Cessna 182, cruising along over the Sulu Sea in air that was as smooth as glass. The big six-cylinder O-470 Continental engine hummed along in a song Eric was familiar with. He had grown accustomed to the sound of the motor and was sensitive to any sound that wasn’t normal. He needed to be since flying at ten thousand feet above open water in a single-engine airplane wasn’t exactly safe.

On this day, everything was beautiful. The sky was mostly blue with a clear view of the azure sea, which was accented with turquoise blobs and a few ships here and there. The air coming in from the vents had the familiar smell of the sea combined with the odor of one hundred octane low-lead aviation fuel and motor oil. For a pilot, this was what it was all about, and Eric was in his happy place.

There was a good reason for Eric’s excitement. Amazingly enough, the pieces of the plan were coming together on short notice. God had obviously decided to make this happen. Through a herculean effort of coordinating the mayor’s office, the Philippine Air Force, the air traffic controllers, and the Puerto Princessa hospital, this was finally going to work. Although Eric was sure his injured passenger may not have felt as elated as he did, this was a momentous day for the team and their mission project. Riding along with him on this flight were an injured passenger, his watcher, and two missionaries.

Eric had met the two missionaries through other contacts, but he wasn’t that familiar with them. He was amazed by their ability to work in such remote and primitive environments. That was why he was here—to try to provide support to these missionaries in an effort to ease some of their burdens. He had met these two on previous trips to the island of Mapun, but this was their first flight with him. This was actually his second trip to the island today, which had come as a request through official channels. Fortunately, his contact with the Philippine Air Force on the island had coordinated everything through the mayor’s office and the local hospital. For Eric, he was just happy that things had finally come together.

Eric knew his team’s work and relationships had made a difference. Because of their history of flying pastors, medical teams, Bible workers, and frontier missionaries, the officials recognized that the team was here to help. While this was their first time flying a patient at the request of an emergency medical evacuation, he knew it wouldn’t be their last. The months of planning, organizing, and coordinating with the different folks were paying off. Now finally this team had made good on their promise, and Eric hoped they would do so many more times in the future.

He often thought that things going smoothly wasn’t a normal operation; there was always a battle, always someone saying no; and the enemy put hurdles in their path on a regular basis. His wife, along with a few other team members, was always trying desperately to get the pieces in place so Eric could focus on the task of flying a 182 over hundreds of miles of open ocean. While this type of flying is considered dangerous within the pilot community, answering the call for God could sometimes be more dangerous. In Eric’s mind, they weren’t testing God; they were answering the call, danger or no danger.

On this day, Eric was trying to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible. The preflight inspection had been a long one, the prayers had been said in earnest, and they had put together a plan to stay in constant communication. He didn’t think of himself as the most skillful pilot, the best missionary, or even a good leader. In fact, Eric wasn’t even sure whether he was the best leader for this project. So how had he ended up as a project manager, mission pilot, ministry leader, and Christian who would try to save people in this remote area of the Philippines? He wasn’t really sure, but today was no time to have any of these doubts. Today was the time to complete the mission that was the culmination of a lot of effort by many people, all with one mission in mind: saving this young man’s life.

2

THE SHAPING OF ERIC

E ric sat in the living room, trying to keep it together and fighting every urge to run out of the house, screaming and maybe never coming back. It was just another typical day at the Brown family’s house. One sister was mad, the parents were fighting, and once again it looked like his mother was moving out. Eric’s father, Peter, had always been a loving and involved father. He wasn’t a good husband but he tried to be a good provider. His main problem was with alcohol; he couldn’t control it, and his wife couldn’t stand it. Peter was a simple man who, while intelligent, had never figured out a way to get any education beyond high school. Math, technology, and problem-solving were all easy for him. Relationships, however, weren’t his strong suit.

Peter had worked hard his entire life but didn’t have a lot to show for it. He had been a carpenter for many years, but an accident in his pickup truck had injured his neck to the point that he could no longer swing a hammer. Now here he was, in his fifties, trying to restart some other form of work, in an age of repressive recession and little concern for middle-aged men with forced career changes. Maybe he wasn’t ambitious, or maybe he was always looking for an easier way out most of his adult life. Whatever the case, he wasn’t happy, and neither was his family.

Peter was the product of the greatest generation. He was a veteran of World War II and had spent time in the Pacific theater as part of an army battalion that was taking the Philippine Islands back from the Japanese occupation force. As is true of many veterans of war, Peter didn’t like to talk about his battlefield experiences. This was another part of the problem. Peter was closed off. He could be friendly to most people, the neighborhood kids loved him, and he loved his children. He wasn’t, however, the type of man to have long conversations involving feelings, trust, or even the future. This type of connection hadn’t worked with his first wife, and it certainly wasn’t working with his second one. Maybe it was the war, or maybe it was growing up on a dirt-poor farm in Kentucky—no one was sure. He just couldn’t understand why everyone was so upset. Nobody was going hungry, and everyone had a roof over his or her head and a bed to sleep in. Couldn’t they see they had life a lot better than he had while growing up? Why was everybody so uptight about all this other stuff?

Peter took advantage of the rebuilding efforts that happened after World War II, which benefited many veterans. Because of his skills from both the farm and the military, Peter was handy with tools. He was quickly caught up in the carpentry industry as home building exploded across North America. He was able to make enough money to satisfy a new wife, raise some kids, and begin a life he’d never thought possible. This new work provided him with two other things he liked as well. He liked traveling, which was easy to do as a carpenter who could move from state to state, building new housing projects. He also developed a taste for Seagram’s Seven whiskey. Both destroyed his first marriage and isolated him from his children. He ended up losing two homes, cars, and a lot of money in the divorce. Even though he was bitter from this divorce, he knew he could still survive by moving to another housing project and making more money. This situation finally led to his moving to Little Rock, Arkansas, finding a new wife, and having three more children. Unfortunately, the accident meant trying to find a different type of work.

Peter was able to establish a business where he cleaned offices for small government and business operations. His drinking, however, often meant he had few relationships, few prospects, and little motivation. His wife of twenty years grew tired of a husband who was drunk every night, constantly broke, and disinterested in doing the right things to expand the business, fix the house, or even show her attention. On this day, in their sixties-era house, things finally came to a head.

So here Eric was, sitting in a living room and watching his whole family explode as they screamed at each other. The entire living room seemed to blow up as his sister yelled at her father and his mother screamed at his father. His father was drunk, and Eric looked for somewhere to hide. Finally, his sister said something that fell like a grenade in the middle of the living room.

Well, if you really want to know the truth, I don’t love you, and I never have.

You could see Peter’s face change in a way Eric hadn’t seen before. The pain, the anguish, and the heartbreak were unmistakable. Peter looked like he died a little that day. He had believed that he had a good relationship with this daughter, and now it was gone. He took his tall glass of whiskey and Coke, and threw it against the far wall.

Well, if that’s the way you feel, then I’ll just leave. I don’t care anymore. Peter stormed out of the living room, out the back door, and he disappeared for three days.

Eric ran to his room, dissolved into a puddle of fear, pain, and tears as he wondered how his family would ever recover from this. He was all of fifteen years old, and he felt like his world had fallen apart. He loved his father, and he wanted his family to be together. He also knew, however, that his father drank way too much, couldn’t emotionally connect with this mother, and wasn’t doing what he needed to do to keep the family together.

Eric lay in his bed for hours, thinking about how his father had given him a love for aviation and anything that might fly. They flew model planes that ranged from very small to large, whatever would fly, as long as they could get them in the air. This interest eventually led to Eric taking flying lessons. Unfortunately, this venture was short lived because his father’s drinking led to another failed business venture and the divorce that had torn the family apart. Eric loved the flying lessons and even excelled at them; however, no money meant no more flying.

Then came the day Peter sold the house, telling Eric, Well I guess it is time for you to move in with your mother. Just like that, the childhood home was gone, hopes and dreams gone, and the family was all going in different directions. This meant he would have to move into a small apartment and try to find a way to finish school in another district. Eric tried to keep the lessons going by working at the small airport for flight time and a little money, but realistically his flight days were over for now.

Although a good man in many respects, Peter had little use for religion, God, or the church. Because of this, the family didn’t have much in the way of religious exposure from other people. In fact, during Eric’s formative years, he didn’t know anyone who liked church, and he found little solace in the people who did try to reach out to him. Because of his father, the thought of turning to a religious leader, much less God, was foreign to Eric. Following his father’s example, he had few recourses for seeking help because he would shut them out. By this time, Eric’s sister had joined the army to escape the chaotic home they’d grown up in.

Things were getting tough all over the country, and for this part of the world, things were getting desperate. Let’s face it; it was 1970s Little Rock, Arkansas, and there were few prospects for anyone. There were double-digit inflation, unemployment, and severe poverty for many. Eric also turned to the things everyone else was—alcohol, drugs, and the constant party—which seemed to motivate most of the people he knew.

These apartment complexes Eric moved into were part of the government’s efforts to help provide housing for those who couldn’t afford it. While a great deal on paper, sometimes these efforts brought together elements that didn’t work well together. There were many families here who were desperately trying to provide a home and life for themselves. Unfortunately, there were also predators preying on the weaknesses of others for a profit. On most mornings, Eric left early to avoid some of these less desirable elements. He did his best to wheel his little Suzuki motorcycle to the parking lot so he could make his way to school. The cool autumn air was filled with the smell of cheap liquor, beer, marijuana, and urine. On the ground used condoms could usually be seen, mixed in with various drug paraphernalia left behind from the night before.

When Eric returned in the afternoon or evening, the party would already be started. Loud music, smoke, and people filled in the spaces between the buildings. Eric was often invited to join these parties, which often included prostitutes making offers he was too scared to be a part of. At this young age, he was too scared to join this crowd, who were experienced way beyond what he was used to. This avoidance was short lived, however, since he soon found these same elements in his own social circles.

With all the destabilizing influences in Eric’s life—with his parents’ divorce, a difficult high school experience, and little prospects at earning money—there were two things that stood out. Drugs were rampant and not only in the social circle of Eric’s friends; they were also a large part of high school life and the neighborhood. Obtaining weed became easier than getting alcohol. Although Eric didn’t have a preference, weed became the obvious choice. It was cheap, and everyone had it. Another influence in his life was a young lady named Erica. Yes, the names became a thing, and everyone thought they made them a cute couple. Meeting her at the young age of sixteen, Eric was in a very vulnerable state. She was sweet, beautiful, and ready to provide the comfort he was looking for. Eric fell in love quickly and hard. There were many warning signs that this relationship would turn into a disaster for him, but he was in love, and he ignored them all.

For Erica, the thought of being with someone who truly loved her was a dream come true. This wasn’t something she was used to feeling. Her father had left her when she was very young, and she didn’t really know him. He had moved to Texas and started his trucking business when she was only three years old. Being the youngest of three siblings, she felt like an only child. By the time she met Eric, her brother and sister were grown adults in their thirties. Intelligent, funny, and quite beautiful, you would think she was a very confident young lady. However, this was never true. As beautiful and outgoing as she was, she never believed others could like her for just being her.

Her brother, a fall-down drunk, never held a job for more than a few months. Very intelligent in his own right, he had a temper that always got him in trouble. Because of this, he turned this anger on Erica and criticized her in a way that reduced her self-esteem to a sliver. Her mother was another character who at once controlled her and then left her to her own devices. Erica often thought her mother was a bit looney since she went from man to man but also told her that men were very bad for her. While Erica was the daughter of her mother’s third husband, she eventually married a fourth. This stepfather was always cruel and distant, leaving her with the feeling that she could never be truly loved.

Erica liked to put up the front that she was a happy-go-lucky person who didn’t have a care in the world. When she was in school, she was often a straight-A student. Since their move to Little Rock, however, she never quite got around to registering. Her mother was busy trying to find her next husband, and Erica was just as happy to stay home. School was a bore for her anyway; the teachers didn’t understand her, and she could learn more from reading than from what they could teach her. The only thing she missed from school was the attention she received from the guys. She really liked the attention. It was the only way she could be sure anyone liked her. She sometimes worried that this issue could turn into a problem, but it really got her mom’s goat, and that was a bonus.

When Eric met her, he was mesmerized by her emerald-green eyes and a smile that could light up a room. She was only a couple of inches shorter than he but sometimes wore heels that made her a touch taller. Eric didn’t mind, just as long as she turned that smile toward him. Her reddish hair and beautiful face could haunt him in his dreams. Of course, she liked to test him by flirting with others, but his anger dissipated when she turned her attention to him. When he stood next to her and could smell the shampoo she wore and the hint of her perfume, he quickly forgot the irritation of her testing him and fell away into a world that was just the two of them.

On the night they met, Eric drove his mother’s car, a two-year-old Dodge Aspen. While not a luxury car by any stretch, it was the nicest car Eric had ever been in. It was dressed up to look nice and sell pretty well, even if it didn’t have all the amenities of true luxury cars. The fake leather seats and nice stereo were popular to him and his friends.

On this night, they were driving around, looking for the normal hang-out places many teenagers from his school went to. Eric had two friends with him that night, and one had brought Erica. As they cruised along to the familiar haunts of the teenage nightlife in their part of town, Eric was left talking to his other friend as he watched the new couple in the back seat. It was one of those spring nights in Little Rock when the temperature was really nice, and they could cruise with the windows open and take in the nighttime festivities.

One of the usual stopping points was a park in the center of town. While Eric and his one friend were striking out with the girls in the usual crowd, he could see that his other friend was making the moves on this new girl. After a while, though, he could tell she wasn’t into him. As she got out of the car, Eric made his way back there through a group of about twenty or so teens from his high school. Since he wasn’t popular with this group, he knew it would make no difference just to wander back over and strike up a conversation with her and maybe help her in an awkward situation. Eric wasn’t always so chivalrous, but sometimes the mood struck him.

So, your name is Erica. That’s kind of cute, Eric said with a bit of a shaky voice. He was still at that awkward stage in his life, and conversations with beautiful girls were difficult for him.

Yeah, uh, thanks. What was your name again? she asked.

Well, this is going well, he thought. She can’t even remember my name. My name is Eric, he replied.

Oh, this is nice. Our names go together.

Eric thought he should jump on this coincidence. Yeah, they do. Maybe we should have been the ones to go out together instead.

I don’t think Bill would have liked that. I mean, he is the one who asked me out.

Yeah, yeah, Eric thought. He would probably not be too happy with Eric trying to poach his date. What in the world was he doing anyway, flirting with another guy’s date? Was he that desperate, or was she just that beautiful?

Bill had moved over toward the center of the party by this time, and Eric thought he could probably get away with it. The move was still insensitive on his part, though. I am sure you’re right. Maybe I should wait till next time, he said.

Well, that was a little bolder move on your part there, Eric, he thought.

Yeah, maybe next time. I would like that, she said, By the way, thanks for coming over and helping out. I knew you were a nice guy. Bill is a nice guy and all, but I am really not into him that way, and he was getting a little too handsy.

No problem. Always glad to help out a lady in distress, Eric replied. What was that? he thought. Am I trying to come off as the knight in shining armor? Get it together.

Erica mentioned that it was time for her to get home, so Eric got the other two guys. They drove Erica back to her place, and Eric decided maybe it was time for one more move. He was sure he would make Bill mad, but he had never really liked him to begin with. Bill had good weed and all, but he wasn’t a very nice guy.

Eric got out of his car to let her out and decided to make his move. Erica, can I have your number? I would like to call you sometime.

Sure, let me write it down for you. And with that, he got the phone number of a young lady who would change his world drastically.

Erica was very flirtatious, and this quality was what led him to her. The difficulty was that there were few other young ladies in Eric’s social circle, and she really made him happy. Although there was little doubt she loved Eric, she was just too young to pass up the attention of other young men.

Eric and Erica were inseparable for nearly two years. It didn’t take long for the physical relationship to begin, and this only made things much more difficult. While their love burned like fire, it wasn’t long before there was nothing left but ashes. Then came the moment of truth that would forever change Eric’s world.

The first time she told him about her infidelities, she nearly killed him. She told him as