By the Grace of God: Divine Intervention Happens!

By John Fogg

STORIES OF SURVIVAL AND SPIRITUAL REBIRTH...By the Grace of God, chronicles the life experiences of the author which on several occasions, could have resulted in his death. He assumed his survival was as a result of luck or skill or a combination of both until the mid-1990’s, when a spiritual reality began to unfold in his life. Ultimately, his spiritual rebirth led him to the Bible which came to life within the context of his newborn spiritual awareness. In the book, he describes a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ that is both touching and inspirational. He believes that relationship is freely available to all that open their hearts and minds to that possibility. The author’s hope is that readers who believe in God will have their faith strengthened and those who don’t, will open their minds and hearts to the peace and love that comes with a personal relationship with Jesus. Devine intervention happens!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Apr 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781478733836

John Fogg

JOHN FOGG served as a Marine Corps fighter pilot for 20 years and in that time, he flew 200 combat air missions in Viet Nam, was selected as a demonstration pilot with the Blue Angels, graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School, Top Gun, and served as the Commanding Officer of VMFA 122, a Marine Corps Fighter Squadron. Upon his retirement from the Corps, he was elected to the Pensacola, Florida, City Council where he served as a District Representative, At-Large Representative and Mayor for nearly 20 years. Upon completion of his last term as Mayor, he had served as the Mayor for over 14 years, longer than anyone in the City’s history. In 2001, Mayor Fogg became the first elected Mayor of Pensacola since 1913 and was designated Mayor Emeritus in 2009. He holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Butler University and a Master of Public Administration degree from Troy University. John and his wife, Pat, will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2014.

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The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

By the Grace of God

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2014 John Fogg

v3.0

Cover Photo © 2014 John Fogg. All rights reserved - used with permission.

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ISBN: 9781478733836

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Author’s Preface

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage

Chapter 2: The El Centro Mishap

Chapter 3: The Lakehurst Mishap

Chapter 4: The Blue Angels in Transition

Chapter 5: Out of the Blue

Chapter 6: Hurricane Frederic

Chapter 7: Intuition

Chapter 8: Coincidence

Chapter 9: The 11:11 Phenomenon

Chapter 10: Drawn to the Bible

Chapter 11: The Viet Nam Experience

Chapter 12: The Gear Up Landing

Chapter 13: The Ruptured Natural Gas Line

Chapter 14: Divine Intervention

Chapter 15: How Did This Happen?

Chapter 16: The Awakening

About the Author

Acknowledgements

My wife Pat and I have been talking about this book for several years and I would write bits and pieces of each of the stories but never gained the momentum to finish the book. There were always distractions related to employment and other commitments. But in the last year, time was more available and with Pat’s strong support and encouragement, this book is now a completed work. My thanks to The Reverend Eric Long, Richard McCool, Allison Sanchez and my mother-in-law, Joyce Massey, for their support and input.

This book is dedicated to Pat, my wife of 39 years. Without her enthusiastic and unwavering belief in me and the importance of this book, By the Grace of God might not have become a reality.

Author’s Preface

This book’s title really captures what I want to communicate to my readers. It is By the Grace of God that I am here today to tell the stories contained in this book. You will read of combat air missions in Viet Nam, you will live through a fight for your life during a category four hurricane on a 36 foot sailboat, you will feel the excitement of being in the cockpit of a Blue Angel jet and vicariously experience a spiritual awakening that changed my life forever. If you consider yourself to be a Christian, I hope this book will strengthen your faith and your relationship with God. If you don’t have a strong faith in God as described in the New Testament of the Bible, I hope the events described in this book will help open your mind and heart to the possibility of having a personal relationship with God that will change your life forever.

Chapter 1

Setting the Stage

In the fall of 1994, some extraordinary events began to unfold in my life for which there could be no rational explanation. I didn’t realize it then, but my life would change forever for the better. What happened to me is available to all of us if we will just open our minds and our hearts to the possibility of miracles. As I look back on those experiences, it can best be described as the emergence of a spiritual reality in my material world. As it was happening, I had no clue as to its origin or purpose. I was not seeking some spiritual awareness or awakening, quite the opposite, I was the Mayor of Pensacola, Florida and I thought my life was filled with purpose and opportunity by my standards at the time. After serving as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps for twenty years, I retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in Pensacola, Florida, the birthplace of Naval Aviation. My wife Pat is a Pensacola native and we both knew we would retire from the Marine Corps and begin the next chapter of our lives here. When you serve on active duty in America’s military, it is not unusual to relocate every two or three years so it is difficult to put down roots and establish strong and lasting relationships with people, something Pat and I desired and looked forward to. So in April of 1987, we relocated to Pensacola to begin the transition to civilian life. Before relating those early retirement experiences, it is important to understand the context of my military background as it relates to the spiritual awakening mentioned above.

God blessed me with the skill sets required to fly tactical jet fighters and from early childhood, I knew I wanted to be a pilot. I spent a good part of my childhood building model airplanes and flying U control gas powered planes. Fast forward to college graduation, commissioning and assignment to active duty in the summer of 1967. In the course of a twenty year career with the Marine Corps, I flew 200 combat air missions in Viet Nam and for two years, was assigned to and flew off the USS Forrestal. I was selected to fly as the Marine Corps Representative with the Blue Angels (left wing and slot pilot), graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School, Top Gun and served as the Commanding Officer of VMFA 122, a Marine Corps fighter squadron based in Beaufort, SC. There are many other details of my Marine Corps experience that are important to this spiritual discussion and I will relate some of them later in this book. For now, it is fair to say I was blessed to have the best assignments you could hope for if you are a U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot. Flying was my passion. Every time I strapped into the cockpit of a jet aircraft, it was as if the airplane became an extension of my body. I always felt the jet and I became one being. With that as background, let’s talk about my experiences in Pensacola after retirement from the Corps.

As soon as we relocated to Pensacola, I pursued opportunities to get involved in the community in any way I could. A friend of the family encouraged the leadership of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation to interview me for the position of National Capital Campaign Director for the Phase III expansion of the National Museum of Naval Aviation. I jumped at the opportunity to be part of one of the premier organizations in our community and helped fund the construction of what has become the number one museum attraction in the southeast. Further, the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce was about to go through the reaccreditation process so I volunteered to help which allowed me get to know many of the business leaders in the area. At the same time, the City