OPINION- Editorial

Early thanksgiving

For those who sacrifice so much

"A rabbit who does not know when a gift has made him safe is poorer than a slug, even though he may think otherwise himself."

--El-ahrairah, Watership Down

TOMORROW, Gentle and Alert Reader, we'll celebrate a national thanksgiving. We will set aside a day, a moment, a prayer, an editorial, to give thanks to Providence for all of its blessings. We will celebrate as Americans, one nation, under God, indivisible.

Then the next day, we'll watch football, eat leftovers, and prep for Christmas. Thanksgiving 2017 will be so yesterday after tomorrow. That's what America does. It moves on. A new basketball season is starting. A new year is soon to be celebrated. Then spring and Easter and hope for the future. What are your plans for spring break? This summer? This country is always busy. Always moving. Always looking ahead to the next thing, the next holiday, the next iPhone, the next news cycle.

And too often we don't know when gifts have made us safe. Or recognize all the daily thanksgivings we should.

This time of year, ducks fill roadside ponds and streams in the Natural State. You can see them by the millions if you drive from Stuttgart to Marianna. And geese, too. Arkansas is a primary home for waterfowl in mid-November.

The sheriff in Arkansas County, Arkansas--Todd Wright--figures the birds had something to do with a helicopter crash in his jurisdiction over the weekend.

"That's what I figure," he told the press. "The [Federal Aviation Administration] guy said he doesn't think geese would down a copter, but he has no idea how many are in a flock."

And there are many. When they get airborne, flocks of geese can be thick. And a goose is a turkey-sized animal. Several geese can knock down large airliners. And have. Remember Sully Sullenberger and his landing in the Hudson River a few years back? The FAA guy should know better.

Sheriff Wright said the helicopter crashed on a levee along the Hamptons Reservoir near Lodge Corner on Sunday night. And every field in that area could have 10,000 to 15,000 geese at any given time.

The crash killed three people:

Pilot Michael Bollen, 46, of Hot Springs.

Flight nurse James Lawson Spruiell, 61, of Alabama.

Flight paramedic John Auld III, 26, of Shreveport.

The official cause of the crash hasn't been determined, and may take a while. The only thing anybody knows for sure at this point is that three people who served their communities have been lost, doing what they did every day to help mankind, likely without much thanksgiving or even the expectation of it.

The helicopter was flying from Pine Bluff to Helena-West Helena, with no patient aboard. Was the crew delivering something important? Or returning to the flight pad? Or just positioning the helicopter to better help in the next emergency? More information will out eventually.

Come Friday, this nation will move on from Thanksgiving 2017. And begin shopping for Christmas 2017. Attention will turn to holiday music, house and tree decorations, and more food and football. While those who serve and protect us go about their jobs, often unnoticed, sometimes putting themselves at risk.

For all they do, it seems that one Thanksgiving a year isn't enough.

Editorial on 11/22/2017

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