The news this week of one of our astronauts driving 900 miles nonstop to Florida in an alleged attempt at kidnap/murder of a rival in a love triangle is very disturbing to me. Another of our national icons has become tainted as a result of questionable personal behavior.
U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowack, an accomplished space shuttle specialist and test pilot, is apparently self-destructing in a very public way and, if she is indeed guilty of the allegations against her, she will suffer the legal ramifications of her acts with the glaring media and public attention. Whatever the outcome, her acts have effects that are certainly more far-reaching than her personal consequences.
Until now, Capt. Nowack has been a role model for all of America’s youth, but most especially girls and women who want to “break the mold” and become more than society has allowed them to be in the past. In view of this episode as well as some others in the recent past, there may not be the encouragement for them that might otherwise have been there. Now more than ever, our country needs the best and the brightest to aspire to positions of prominence in science, aviation and space.
This is the latest in a series of disappointments that I have felt. Another one was when Randy “Duke” Cunningham went to prison for accepting bribes while a congressman. Cunningham holds the distinction, in addition to being a convicted crook, as the only Navy ace of the Vietnam conflict as an F-4 Phantom radar intercept officer. I don’t know of any becoming one since then. Although I saw a few bad apples in the officer ranks, none have managed to achieve so much and fall so far because of character weaknesses.
I can only hope that the few who bring shame upon themselves are not able to bring that dishonor upon a profession that not only requires above average intelligence, but also demands a bravery that few in our society can ever imagine. Having flown in the back-seat of aircraft launched from aircraft carriers, I can only imagine the fortitude that it takes to go so far and do it so well.
I pray that incidents like these don’t discourage those men and women who aspire to be so much more and go beyond the limitations that society tries to impose on them. We need the bravest and brightest to continue to reach for the stars. They are our hope and promise for the future. Although all will not reach the pinnacle, there is a great deal to be said for the journey that takes you as far as you can go.
So you young people who want to take that journey, don’t be discouraged by the few with clay feet.
T&D Correspondent Larry P. Jordan can be reached by phone at 803-874-3276. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.