Just Have Fun

Perhaps my dad’s favorite story was this one:

In 1962, my dad’s Marine squadron was stationed at the Naval Air Base in Pensacola, Florida for a short time.  This stint coincidently, overlapped with a Blue Angels air show.  Someone higher up in Dad’s squadron had an amazing brainstorm:  the Marines would grab the cans of the yellow paint used to touch up the Blue Angel’s aircraft, and pull a prank during the night that would get the attention of the audience as well as officers on the base.  With one Marine as lookout, the others proceeded to carry out their deed. 

They successfully accomplished what they set out to do without being discovered.  I often pictured this as one of those scenes in the movies with men scurrying about and hiding when the guards walked by.  When the “coast was clear” they all returned to their secret deed.

The next day, the jets were prepared for the show, the audience was tingling with anticipation to see this precision flying group perform their death-defying stunts, and Dad’s battalion sat with their own sense of anticipation.  The jets took off from their runway and gathered into their formation.  They aimed for the airspace over the grandstands at a low altitude and “buzzed” the audience.  As the aircraft passed overhead, the audience noticed something unusual on the bottom of each plane.  There were hand-painted letters on the underside of each plane.  With the group of aircraft in formation, the letters spelled:  YABBA DABBA DOO USMC TOO.  I was told that the base commander didn’t see the humor in this, as the Blue Angels are an elite group of Navy pilots, (oh, there is always only one Marine pilot in the group).  Dad explained that the leader of his battalion was reprimanded but never gave the names of the Marines responsible.  Additionally, once this group of Marines left the base, they were considered “persona non grata.”

Dad was proud to be part of such hijinks.  He would tell this story to those he got know.  Later in life, he would attend reunions for his squadron, the VMF-531.  He was actually assigned to First Recon, which later fell under the VMF-531.

During one reunion, two of the pilots pranked the squadron by feigning to be presenters of a prestigious award.  When the time came for the men to present the award, they present the group with an award the said “GOTCHA!” on it.  The two pilots explained who they were and how they had finally caught up with the culprits who defaced their planes.  Dad loved it!

I think that often we feel that enjoying life means that we spend time doing the things we enjoy doing:  hiking, reading a book, cycling, congregating with friends, watching a movie, etc.  But, as I wax on in years, I see that I often neglect to just have fun.  My wife tells me on occasion that I don’t know how to have fun.  Dad enjoyed having fun.  He might prank someone, or exchange humorous banter, or play cards or a board game, or many other activities, but, not only did he enjoy having fun, he wanted others to enjoy it just as much or more than he did. 

The Bible tells us this:  “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance” (Proverbs 15:13a) and “A merry heart does good, like medicine,” (Proverbs 17:22a).  A person’s joy is contagious, healthy, and helpful not only to the person himself, but to those who surround him.  Take time today to do something fun; but do it with someone else.  You’ll be amazed at what an affect it will have on you both.