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Sandi was born Richard John Sanders to a single mom with two older children. In poor downtown Los Angeles he learned fast the ways of the street and how to make his own way. These skills sustained him after cancer took his mom when he was 14. He obtained legal custody of himself and set out in path he now recognizes God laid before him – the path to becoming a fighter pilot. He eventually got there, but not before attending the Airborne Course, Air Assault School and Helicopter Mechanic Course with the US Army and becoming the adopted son of Brenda and Clem Douglass. Hence he became Sandi Douglass, and enrolled in UCLA to earn a Bachelor’s in English Literature (because that’s the degree you get when you want to be a pilot!). As if that weren’t enough, he convinced the panel to award him a Masters’ in Shakespeare. While finishing his four years of university in two and a half, he also earned the Senior Sword award from his peers and Commander’s Award en route to becoming a distinguished graduate in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Hence the Air Force not only commissioned him but also sponsored his flying training at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training in Wichita Falls, Texas, as well, which guaranteed that he’d fly a fighter-type aircraft. Sandi became an F-16 pilot, where he was named “Bush”, the Deer Slayer, in a colorful tale for another time. He was an occasional top gun and an instructor and company grade officer of the quarter. He was famed for speaker phone prowess and academic excellence in various courses, a member of the Osan Chapel’s coveted Order of the A-Frame, and an OCF coordinator as several bases – but in true fighter pilot fashion, his reputation never included tact. Hence he found the best action toward women in the military was to simply avoid them. Therefore he spoke to “Peddler” only once in her seven months in the same squadron at Luke AFB, Arizona – then immediately hightailed in the opposite direction. The military moved him around in standard fashion – to all the bases he least wanted, including to Kunsan Airbase, Republic of Korea, where he was renamed, this time becoming “Slick”, another product of a shady story. He sank himself into chapel programs, OCF, and Green Baggers Bible studies (GBBS, a pilots’ group). But the same month he arrived at Kunsan, a horde of F-117s invaded the base. Among their pilots was the former F-16 pilot, now called “Kirby”, who showed up at GBBS every Sunday evening. |
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Donna was born to an average American middle class family of four plus a dog on Long Island, New York, where she grew up swimming, diving, learning musical instruments, doing gymnastics, and generally playing to her hearts’ content. Playing continued after she earned a Bachelor of Arts in physics from Duke University, where she was involved in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Undecided on what would be the most fun while still providing a living, she moved to Colorado and worked as a building maintainer, pool technician, snow shoveler, lifeguard, and flying instructor while finding fellowship at Mountain Ministries in the home of Bill and Alicia Spear. After four years of playing “ski bum” she filled out an application to the Air Force while sitting in her lift ticket office at Keystone Ski Resort. The Air Force accepted her as a pilot and four months later she found herself on paid vacation in San Antonio, Texas, when the Air Force grounded the T-3 training plane to which she was assigned. Having no work requirements for the remainder of the summer, she had her first taste of being a professional athlete, culminating in winning her age group and beating several pros in a triathlon the day before Officer Training School started. She led a team of Air Force Officer Trainee athletes to victory against a Navy Team in the Joint Military Athletic Competition where spectators kept one eye on the competition and the other on the frequent water spouts just off the Florida coast. After serving as a Trainee Squadron Commander, she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and moved to Laughlin AFB, Texas, where she flew the same T-37 jet training aircraft her father had flown 34 years before. Between escapes to Colorado to frolic in the snow, Donna wandered from Texas to Mississippi then to Arizona learning to fly various Air Force planes and being dubbed “Peddler” for her most common mode of transportation. Once qualified as an F-16 pilot, the Air Force directed her to Kunsan Airbase, Korea, where she was renamed “Kirby”, and where she discovered the wonder of the worldwide family of God as the folks at the Haven Servicemen’s Center welcomed her with open arms. Staying in “Riceland”, she next moved to Misawa Airbase, Japan, from which she got her first taste of Red Flag, Maple Flag, and Cope Thunder – all “Large Force Exercises” involving hundreds of planes in Las Vegas, Edmonton, and Fairbanks, respectively. She also began dabbling in adventure races with the Armed Forces Eco-Challenge, a five-day race in Alaska. With Misawa’s 14th Fighter Squadron, Donna deployed in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom, seizing the opportunity to fellowship with a multinational Officer Christian Fellowship (OCF) in the middle of the strictly Muslim nation of Saudi Arabia. Leaving lush Japan for desert New Mexico, she became the first woman to fly the F-117 stealth fighter while trying out all the local rock climbing areas and winning her age group in the local triathlon series. The next summer, passionately against her will, she deployed to Kunsan Airbase. As she prepared to depart, one of her friends suggested that she “just might meet someone there” and she scoffed, saying “I know fighter pilots too well to ever date one”. So she used her time deployed to attempt her first Ironman triathlon. She lost herself in training and writing her stories until the pilot who led the Bible study began to edge into her life... |
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He couldn’t resist offering to carry her bike case and bags if she’d pay his airfare to get to Cheju Island for her Ironman Korea. She turned him down twice, but when he commandeered another friend to go along to form a cheering section and support crew, she could no longer refuse. Even after a nearly 13-hour race, Slick and Kirby stayed up until the wee hours of the morning – long after Carrie had gone to sleep. A week later, beside a dancing river in a lush Korean valley edged by bare rock cliffs, Slick met Donna, and Kirby met Sandi – each suddenly realizing they were looking into the eyes of their shadowy youthful dreams fleshed out in human form… |
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