[ampaterry]

I joined the United States Air Force on October 1st of 1961. In my minds eye, I saw the Navy moving around in ships, the Army marching on the ground, and the Air Force as flying around in military aircraft. The reality set in when I flew on a commercial craft to Texas for basic training, then five weeks later was sent by train to Colorado for advanced training. In my entire time in the service, I was in an Air Force plane only one time, and it was a cargo plane that was not pressurized, so it had to fly around the mountains rather than over them to keep from killing those of us in the cargo area. I drove deuce and a half trucks, flatbeds, weapons carriers, and marched many miles, but never did fly up in the clouds in a military craft. I traveled from assignment to assignment in trains, buses, and other commercial transport. And that is pretty common. The defense forces of this country depend on civilian transportation for everything from troop movements to supply deliveries. That realization is why, in 1957, congress set aside the third Friday in May, today, as National Defense Transportation Day.

Scripture speaks of the needed supplies for an armed force:
1 Kings 4:26-28 (KJV);
And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

Let us, on this day, remember in our prayers all that work in any part of the transportation industry. Let us be grateful for the 'knights of the road', the truckers like my friend Sam. Let us thank the commercial pilots, the bus drivers, the cabbies, and the guy that sweeps the floor in the subway. Every one, from the most glorious position to the most humble, is a vital part of the network that makes our national defense possible. The best trained men and the latest technological equipment are worthless unless they are in the right place at the right time, and are continually furnished with the food, clothing and supplies which they require to do their job.