ROAD
TRIPS!
R
BY BISHOP F. RICHARD SPENCER
oad Trips in the Spencer family during my youth were always a highlight for weekends and summer vacations. The excitement of travels and exploring new locations and places of historic interest remains a joy for me. Recently I was invited by one of our young adult groups to join them for a “road trip” to explore the history of “The Tuskegee Airmen”, who trained not far from Fort Rucker, AL. The airfield and campus are now a museum park. The first African American fighter pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps were the public face of the Tuskegee Airmen. They made extraordinary contributions to the Allied victory in Europe during World War II. Along with our experience of walking the grounds of this historic Army Air Corps airfield, our group talked about the advancements made in our American culture to become a more inclusive military community and how we, today in 2019, must protect those rights and privileges achieved in our Country over the past generations. The conversations also reminded us that there remains more work to be done in order to have a balanced society in which each member’s value is recognized and his or her contribution accepted. Another “road trip” for me this past fall season was to the U.S. Navy “Brig” (confinement facility) in Charleston, SC. There I found that the insiders had formed a vibrant Catholic community under the supervision of a local military RCIA team from the U.S.A.F. and from the U.S.N. chapels. After two and half years of religious training and preparations, Edward James Lin was received into full communion with the Catholic
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