Bo Wagner is pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, NC, a widely traveled evangelist, and the author of several books. His books are available on Amazon and at www.wordofhismouth.com

I did not lose my lunch; let’s go ahead and answer that question right off the bat. I did consider it, though; people who have never been in a two-G rolling dive have no idea what that can do to a person’s stomach.

My wife planned and secretly squirreled away money for about five years to pull this one off. She knew one of my life-long dreams had been to fly in a P-51 Mustang, the apex fighter plane of WWII. She kept the secret amazingly well; I did not know where we were going until we pulled into the airport just a short way outside of Atlanta. War Bird Rides and the Commemorative Air Force had their fleet set up and ready to climb, and my jaw dropped in amazement when I saw the red-nosed P-51D.

The P-51 had a storied career in the biggest war in Earth’s history. It arrived later to the contest than the Spitfires, P-47s, and P-38s, but when it arrived, it was a game-changer. It was the then-perfect combination of speed, maneuverability, and range. It could fly 1650 miles, farther with external tanks, reach flat-line speeds of 440 mph (550 mph in a dive), could fly as high as 41,900 feet, had a climb rate of 3200 feet per minute, and was just a bit below the nimble Spitfire on the maneuverability scale. It came outfitted with six .50 caliber Browning machine guns, and pilots claimed 4950 air-to-air victories with it.

Yes, I am an unabashed fanboy on this one.

The plane I flew in was 81 years old. In human terms, this would most commonly be found on a walker in an assisted living center. But this bird was not looking for a comfy nest somewhere. When the pilot threw the throttle on this warbird that had been modified for a passenger, the passenger, me, had his head involuntarily pinned back against the seat.

The engine growled as if yearning for conflict; it had been designed for that very purpose. On this day, though, the only conflict was with the wind and blue sky itself. Lake Lanier, over which we did rolls and wing overs, formed a beautiful backdrop that belied the bloody backdrop the machine was made for.

The pilot and I were able to talk over the headsets. He asked what brought me out for the flight, and I told him how much of a fan of the World War II era in general and the P-51 in particular I had long been. He himself had been a pilot for forty years and spoke with reverence of the old bird.

“Thank you for coming out for the flight. Without people like you doing this, this machine would end up in a dusty museum somewhere.”

That hit hard and stuck with me. The P-51 is not exactly cutting-edge aviation anymore; why should it not be set aside and forgotten? It has no more use as a defensive tool; it is too old to be much useful even as a personal private plane, so why keep on maintaining it? As one of the men at the registration table told us, “They are eighty-plus years old. We can keep them flying, but keeping them flying well takes a lot of effort.”

It did not take long for the answer to come. It should not be set aside and forgotten because the old stuff has a value far greater than mere utility. There was a crowd there that day of people with white skin, black skin, brown skin, wrinkled skin, smooth skin, and even tatted and pierced skin, all reading the placards and all taking selfies and group photos with the Mustang, B-17, and others. The ability to go back to a shared time of greatness has a unifying power that makes a difference in these days of such quick divisiveness.

In Proverbs 22:28, Solomon said, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.” In Joshua 22:34, the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan River set up a huge commemorative altar so that they and the tribes on the west side of the river would always remember that they were one people. The Passover commemoration each year reminded everyone in the entire nation of how they became a free people.

So take your kids and grandkids to see the war birds. Talk to the old pilots. Go to Washington DC and gaze into the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Go see the staggering WWII monument. Visit the Smithsonian. Be absolutely sure to view the flag that flew over Fort McHenry the night Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. Take a tour of Arlington National Cemetery. Don’t miss the changing of the guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Go to local monuments as well. And not just the big ones; big things happened at little places like Cowpens, SC, and Kings Mountain, SC. And teach your children to be very respectful of those things and places.

Not just on the designated patriotic days, but every day, it is good and unifying to look back at the trials God has brought us safely through together, and at the marvelous men and machines that were used in that process.

Pastor Wagner can be contacted by email at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org, and his books are available by clicking the Store link above.

Feature photo by Dana Wagner