The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1122967
The Press-Dispatch Local Wednesday, May 29, 2019 A- 9 Roadside Assistance HEAD-TO-HEAD AMERICAN CLASSICS Alan Benjamin looks over Bill Borst's 1961 Chevrolet Corvette. It is one of four Borst, of Washington, owns. Along with the 1961, he has two 1971s and a 2014. Jess Billings' 2017 Grand Sport Registry Corvette is an example of the lat- est technology in Corvettes. See more photos on the next page. Bird Hunters on way to new club house Pike County Bird Hunters Club's Matt Hostetler and vice-president Jeff Barton were perched on top of the barn shaped, A-frame roof of the club house, tearing shingles off prior to leveling the structure. About a dozen members, including president Chris Kinman and his front-end loader have been busy the past week or so salvaging equipment and materials in anticipation of the new and bigger facility. Shea Souders joins Memorial Hospital staff Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center an- nounce the addition of Shea Souders, CRNA to its medi- cal associate staff. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthe- tists (CRNAs) are advanced practice registered nurses who administer anesthesia and other medications and monitor patients receiving and recovering from anes- thesia. Souders received a bach- elor's degree in nursing and a doctorate of nursing prac- tice, nurse anesthesia at Murray State University in Murray, Ky. She previous- ly worked as a registered nurse in Critical Care Ser- vices at Memorial Hospital and as a CRNA at Deacon- ess Health System in Evans- ville. She is certified by the National Board of Certifica- tion and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists. Shea Souders, CRNA ther didn't retire from full-time work until he was 72 years old. "Just because of that influence, it prompted me to say this is some- thing to look at and take some pride in what happened and how he survived it," said Henderson. He graduated from A ztec High School in New Mexico in May 1982. By July, "I had raised my hand and began the process of joining the Air Force." Henderson said he had a Marine recruiter talking to him about join- ing, but all the jobs he was describ- ing were combat related. "I knew I wasn't going to be 18 all my life." He said the jobs in the Air Force seemed more transferable to a ca- reer after the military. So he chose the Air Force. He got put into the Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants po- sition. "It was a whole lot more than pumping gas. It was pretty involved." He said, along with dis- tributing the typical fuels, he was also involved with liquid oxygen and nitrogen, and some areas did rocket and jet fuels. His closest call, or at least the one that sticks with him the most, was while flying on a C-130 that had giant bladders filled with fuel in the cargo bay. He said the C-130 was nicknamed Big Slow Target. But his job was to fly around the world and distribute fuels to who- ever needed them. He said, often they were supplying covert opera- tions, so he didn't know where he was going or where he had been. "I kind of liked it that way." However, on one similar mis- sion, they were on a descent some- where in Iraq. He heard the pi- lots announced they had two con- firmed SAM missiles launches that were aimed at them. "A horn went off and they started swerv- ing. I just sat and waited for the inevitable. It was a life changing experience." Henderson said he was in charge of the distribution crew in the back of the plane. "I have never felt like that before. I didn't know what to do." He said they were supposed to get the fuel bladders loosened and ready to be ejected, but he couldn't move. "I couldn't function. I just sat there waiting for whatever. I saw my crew looking to me, then I found myself loosening straps. I looked up, they were do- ing the same thing." "I think I heard at least one go by," said Henderson. When it was over, they tightened the straps back down and got ready to de- scend. "Even now, I think about what was going through my mind. During that time, I wasn't sure I was going to make it." "The first thing I thought about it, I thought 'who is going to come up the sidewalk and tell my fami- ly? ' Then I thought about 'am I pre- pared for this to be over with? Am I prepared to meet my maker? ' I'm a Christian, so I was ready. Still the question popped up in my mind, 'am I really ready? ' A fter that, I don't know what I was thinking." Henderson said still today, when he talks about it or hears certain sounds or smells, he gets choked up. "I think about Memorial Day. I think about what happens to the guys. I was brand new to the war and feelings like that. I think about these guys who are on the front lines hearing bullets buzzing by and seeing the guy beside them get blown away. How does that not affect them? " "That was the first time I expe- rienced that kind of action. I have never had that before or since. I'm sure I have had other similar things, but they just didn't register with me like that." Henderson said, "I have been fortunate I didn't have to look at the bad guy. These guys who do that, God bless them," said Hen- derson. In 1990, he achieved the rank of Staff Sgt. Henderson said when the Berlin Wall fell, the military was cutting back and he was offered to sign up for two more years or take a bonus and get out. He decided to take the bonus. He got out of the military and moved to Pike County with his wife, the former Kathy Campbell, a Winslow native he met at an Air Force base in Arizona. "I took a small break in the ser- vice to see what civilian life was like. It was driving me crazy." He said he was watching the news and every time there was a deployment of a unit to some- where, he would say, "I used to be in that." Eventually, after a few months, he went to his wife and said "I think I'm going to be in the Na- tional Guard Unit. My wife said, 'My God, what took you so long? '" In the National Guard unit, he worked in an HVAC unit. He was trained in heating and air-condi- tioning in a union apprenticeship program. Henderson said it was a win-win for everyone. The union got drug-free, well-disciplined peo- ple and he got training he needed. Little did he know, his next deploy- ment would be to an area where HVAC was vital to the war effort. He was sent to Baghdad in 2009, where they set up air-conditioning for the troops who were based in an area that had daytime highs top- ping 130 degrees. One of his stories was an exam- ple of how hard it is on military families. He said during a three- month period, he was put on stand- by to be ready to go immediately, then taken off standby and put back on nearly daily. He said he would call and tell his wife he was going, then he wasn't going, over and over to the point she told him to stop telling her. When he got the final word, he told his superior to call his wife and tell her. "He said, 'that's not my job, but you can use my phone.'" Henderson said Kathy lost it. "She said, 'you have orders.'" He then heard a click and phone went dead. When he arrived home, his duffel bag was out on the front yard and his clothes were everywhere. "She vented, which she deserved to do. Then she came back and said 'what do you have to do? '" He said he called her from Flor- ida right before he was leaving an learned she had lost a baby. "I'm not the first person to go through that, but it sure was tough." Henderson said he was told they would get him home. Kathy asked him if he was coming home to stay. I said, "I don't know." She told him, "Don't come home. Just win the war, then come home." "It just meant a lot to me that she said this to me." "She has always been my sup- port role. I just can't say enough about her. I hope other military families have the support I have received," said Henderson. He said one of the differences between recent wars, and W WI and W WII is then the country went to war together. Now just the military families go to war. Henderson currently works out of Terre Haute in intelligence. He is enlisted through 2022. "I just feel like I have been well blessed and it has been an honor to serve the nation," said Henderson. Continued from page 1 HENDERSON Three arrested on OVWI charges this week in county By Andy Heuring A rural Petersburg man was arrested late last Tuesday on a drunken driving charge after Pe- tersburg Police stopped him for disregarding a stop sign. Chad Hayes, 24, of 6136 N. CR200E, Petersburg, was arrest- ed by Patrolman Scott Arnold and State Trooper C. J. Boeck- man at about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, May 21. Patrolman Scott Arnold said he saw a truck speeding and then disregarding the stop sign at Matilda and Seventh Sts. He said Hayes went past the stop sign then slammed on his brakes and slid to a stop in the intersection. Trooper Boeckman's report stated Hayes told him he has al- ready been pulled over earlier in the day by Trooper Bill Gadber- ry for driving his dirt bike on the road. Trooper Boeckman said he noticed the odor of alcohol while he talked to Hayes. Patrolman Ar- nold said there was an open bottle of whiskey in the truck. Hayes failed field sobriety tests and was taken to the Pike County Jail, where he tested 0.19 percent for blood alcohol content. The le- gal limit in Indiana is 0.08 percent. A Petersburg man was arrested early last Wednesday after police stopped him for not using his turn signal as he turned from CR400N onto Whitelock Ave. in Petersburg. Justin Furman, 39, of 1000 E. Mona St., Petersburg was arrest- ed on a charge of operating a ve- hicle while intoxicated. Patrolman Arnold said when he stopped Furman for signal viola- tion he notice the odor of alcohol. Furman said he and his passen- ger had gone out to eat and then went driving in his Jeep. He said he had a couple of beers to drink. Furman failed field sobriety tests and was taken to the Pike County Jail, where he tested 0.176 percent for blood alcohol content. A Washington woman was ar- rested at 12:21 a.m. last Tuesday after police stopped her on I-69 for driving 79 mph in a 70 zone near the 47 mile marker. Jessica Desinord, 35, of 2648 S. CR300W, Washington was stopped by Trooper Boeckman, who said along with speeding, Desinord's li- cense plate light was out. Boeckman said while talking with Desinord he could smell the odor of burnt and raw marijuana. He said Desinord and her pas- senger admitted they had smoked marijuana earlier in the night. She failed field sobriety tests. Desinord was transported to the Daviess Community Hospital where she tested positive for mar- ijuana and amphetamines. She was then taken to the Pike County Jail and charged with op- erating a vehicle while intoxicat- ed, controlled substance and pos- session of marijuana.