by Jim Plautz
“Son, it’s time you came home. We have tried, but the world isn’t ready.”
“Father, please let me stay. The man I met today is the one I have been seeking. Together we can do great things.”
“We tried for 28 years and what do we have to show for it? Sure, millions of people know that you are a great basketball player, but how many friends have you made, friends that you could count on?”
“Father, I have many friends that I can depend upon. These are good people and will support me if I need them.”
“I’m not sure that they would, Matthew, but I am willing to give them one final opportunity. Do you recall your high school graduation when everyone promised they would be there for you if you needed them?”
“Yes, I remember that clearly, Father.”
“Well, how many of them do you think would come to you in St. Louis if you told them it was necessary to save your life?”
“All of them, Father. I’m sure that all of them would be there for me.”
“Well, let’s give this a try, son. If you’re right, I’ll let you stay and try to work things out with this man you met today. Tell just one person and ask him to spread the word on your behalf. Tell him that your life depends upon everyone who attended that graduation party fulfilling their promise; if they said they’d be there for you when you needed them, they must be in St Louis Wednesday evening.”
“Father, thank you. You will be pleasantly surprised.”
“Remember, son, no exceptions.”
That evening, Jerry Hayes had finally fallen into a deep asleep. He and his family had watched the basketball game on television and prayed for Matthew with his wife Sarah and two children. His phone had rung constantly with grief stricken calls from classmates and friends. It seemed everyone had watched the game and witnessed the terrible tragedy. Hayes finally went to bed when it became clear that there would be no further updates from any of the networks or cable television, finally falling into a fitful sleep after hours of tossing and turning.
Early Monday morning he received a visitor in his dreams, a vision so clear that he knew immediately this was more than a dream; this was real.
“Jerry, I need you. It’s time for you to be the leader that I always knew you could be. My life depends upon it.”
“What can I do?” Jerry had responded in his dream.
“Remember when you promised me that you would be there for me if I ever needed you?”
“Yes!”
“I need you now, and everyone else that made that promise. My life depends upon all of you fulfilling your promise.”
“What do you want me do?”
“Contact everyone that was at the pep rally; teachers, students and others that were there and made the vow. I need them to be in St. Louis by 8:00 PM Wednesday evening.”
“I’ll do it, Matthew.”
“Remember, Jerry, there can be no exceptions. Everyone must be there. I’m counting on you.”
Jerry lay in bed for several minutes, trying to convince himself that he had been dreaming. This wasn’t the first time he had thought about the events of that evening. His old high school friends continually kidded him about how easily Matthew had plucked him from the third row of the bleachers. There were only a dozen kids in their group, but there were at least 50 versions of the look on his face as Matthew lectured him about being a leader. But Jerry never once got angry about this good natured kidding because he knew how much this event had influenced his life. Matthew had asked for his help then and was asking for his help again. Jerry wasn’t about to let him down.
“Sarah, wake up. I need your help.” His wife was groggy from sleep, but became alert when she heard the urgency in his voice and saw the earnest look on her husband’s face.
“You might not be able to believe this, but Matthew just spoke to me in a vision. I swear; it was as if he were sitting next to me.”
“What did he say?”
Hayes related Matthew’s request, leaving no doubt in Sarah’s mind that her husband believed that Matthew had indeed spoken to him. That was good enough for Sarah. “Help me develop a plan. We need to figure out how to spread the word quickly.”
At 4:30 AM Gus Edwards received a phone call. He, too, had watched the basketball game the preceding evening and was devastated, recalling the evening that Matthew came to dinner and the positive impression he made on his wife and two children. He owed so much to Matthew. After taking a two month sabbatical from work as self-imposed punishment, Edwards had turned his life around and was now in charge of the local station and three other NBC affiliates in the state. Edwards knew he owed much of his success and happiness to Matthew Wilson. When Hayes called, his only question was; “What can I do?”
At 7:00 AM Edwards made a public service announcement on his local television station expressing the station’s regret for last night’s incident and promising the station’s full support for doing what is necessary to help Matthew Wilson. “In one hour, Jerry Hayes will tell his former classmates at Shorewood High School what they need to do to save Matthew’s life. Spread the word.”
Only a few of Matthew’s classmates had seen Edward’s message live, but over 80% of the 1,200 students and teachers at the pep rally were tuned into Channel 12 an hour later. Word had spread like wildfire.
At 8:00 AM, Monday morning, viewers saw the highlight of Sunday’s basketball game, culminating with the gruesome bomb explosion that critically wounded Matthew Wilson. At 8:05, Edwards introduced Jerry Hayes, the All-State football player who ten years ago Matthew had challenged to be a leader. Hayes addressed the Milwaukee television audience.
“My name is Jerry Hayes, and I graduated from Shorewood High School before getting my Masters Degree from the University of Wisconsin. I have a lovely wife, Sarah, and two beautiful children. I recently started my own business. I am the luckiest man in the world and I owe it all to Matthew Wilson. Those of you that went to Shorewood High School with me know exactly what I mean, because I know he helped every one of you in some way. Well, now Matthew needs our help. He needs us to fulfill the pledge we made on graduation day when he promised us that if any of us ever needed him, he would be there for us.”
Hayes paused for what seemed an eternity, but was in actuality only a few seconds, looking directly into the camera. “Do you remember on graduation day when Matthew said that he would be there for us if we ever needed him? We responded; Matthew, if you ever need our help, we will be there for you. Do remember that promise as clearly as I do?” A thousand viewers nodded their heads in assent.
“To me, it seems like yesterday, and I know it does for all of you that were there. Matthew spoke to me last night,” Hayes continued, pausing again for effect. “It was much more than a dream; it was almost like he was standing next to me. There is no doubt in my mind that it was Matthew. His message was, “Jerry, I need you to contact everyone that was at our graduation ceremony; teachers, students and others that were there and made the vow. I need them to be in St. Louis by 8:00 PM Wednesday evening – my life depends upon it.”
“We have less than two days to fulfill our promise and I for one will not let him down; will you? I have a preliminary list of the people that attended the graduation ceremony,” Hayes continued. “It is posted on the Channel 12 website in alphabetical order. Check it to make sure that it is complete, and call this number immediately if you know someone that should be added to the list. On the bottom of your screen you will see a list of students or faculty members we have been unable to find. Call us if you know anything. Remember, every one of the people on this list needs to be in St. Louis by Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil at 8 PM; everyone, including former President Bush.”
“There will be live updates for you on this station throughout the day. All I can tell you now is that we are making hotel reservations as we speak and there will be buses leaving from the high school tonight at 11:00 PM. I’m packing for three days, but I’m ready t
o stay as long as Matthew needs me.”
“If you are on this list, contact Jennifer to confirm you will be there and if you will be on the bus. Contact Kathy if you need a babysitter or anything else.” A complete list of contact people was posted on the monitor. “Call this number at this station if you have any questions.”
Station manager Gus Edwards made a final announcement. “This station will do everything we can do to support this effort and will provide continuous coverage of this story for the next two days. All local programming has been canceled.”
Jerry and Sarah made eleven calls. That’s all it took to obtain the help of Edwards and fill the eight-person steering committee. Two other people caught a 9:00 AM flight to St. Louis to begin coordinating hotel reservations and everything else that would be needed in St. Louis to accept an influx of over 2,000 people.
Rosann received a phone call shortly after the television broadcast. “Mary, this is Jerry; have you…?”
“Yes Jerry, I saw the announcement this morning and think you did a wonderful job. Jim, Father McGinnis and I will be there in plenty of time. Just let us know if we can help.”
“I will Mary. We might need Coach to make a few calls for us if we run into any people that don’t want to be there.”
George Bush called Jennifer an hour after the broadcast. He had already seen a tape of Jerry Hayes’ appeal and offered his full support. “I’ll be there and so will everyone that was with me that day.”
“That’s great, President Bush. It might only be necessary to bring the people that said they would be there for Matthew,” Jennifer suggested.
“Jennifer, we are talking about saving the life of a great young man. Let’s not take any chances. We’ll all be there,” he said with conviction. “I’ll get you a list later today.”
“Thanks again, Mr. President.”
“Jennifer, here is my private number. You just let me know if there is anything else I can do to help,” the former president added. Jennifer didn’t know it at the time, but she would be calling that number later that day.
Hayes came on again at noon to a background of the “Simply the Best” video and basketball game highlights combined with videos of public service projects. There was a missing persons list scrolling across the bottom of the screen. “Do you know where these people are?”
Hayes provided the statistics. “There were 1,125 people at the ceremony including 955 students and 48 teachers and custodians. As of ten minutes ago 944 people have contacted us and will be there. That includes former President Bush and his party. This means we still need to reach 181 people. Help us, we are running out of time.”
“Jerry, we have a problem. We have a guy in Iraq and another on a naval carrier in the Pacific. The military says it would be impossible to get them back in time.”
“Jennifer, do you still have President Bush’s private number?”
“I have it right here.”
“Dial it.”
“What other problems do you know about, Pete?”
“Well, there is one problem we can’t do much about. Mrs. Reynolds is dying of cancer and is basically on her deathbed. There is no way she could make the trip.”
Jerry thought about it. Matthew had been specific about there being ‘no exceptions’, but he couldn’t have meant to include someone on her deathbed; or could he? Jerry knew how much Mrs. Reynolds liked Matthew and made his decision. “Get me her number. This should be her decision. Anything else?”
“Nothing we haven’t addressed. Ray and Alice are in California, but they said they will be there. Fred is studying in London, but he should already be on a plane.”
“Good job, let’s keep at it. We’re running out of time.”
By 4:00 PM the missing person list was down to 23 people and by 5:00 PM the list was down to seven, including the two servicemen stationed overseas. Former President George Bush had guaranteed they would be there.
John Stevens was one of the seven men that had not received the message. He had spent the entire day giving a presentation to the New York Department of Administration, the culmination of six months of hard work by his four-man project team. The project to design a statewide accounting system was worth $25 million and would be the largest job that the small firm he worked for had ever obtained. They were one of six bidders and the presentation process took all morning, followed by a question and answer session in the afternoon. At 4:30 he finally checked his cell phone and saw that his wife, Alice, had been trying to reach him all day.
“What’s up, Alice, I see you’ve been trying to reach me.”
“Have you seen the recent news about Matthew? It’s all over network television.”
John had gone to bed early, but was aware of the accident. “No; is he okay?”
“Yes, but that’s not what I mean. His condition is still the same but Jerry Hayes is coordinating an effort to get all his classmates to St. Louis. Apparently he is convinced that everyone needs to be there by 8 PM tomorrow in order to save Matthew’s life. You’re one of four people that they haven’t been able to reach. Everyone else will be there.”
John didn’t hesitate for a moment. “Contact whoever is in charge and let them know we’ll be there. I’ll fly home tonight and we can catch a plane directly to St. Louis tomorrow morning.” John walked back into the conference room and received the good news from his boss.
“John, we made the finals. They want us to make a presentation tomorrow afternoon and answer questions.”
John looked at his boss and gave him the bad news. “Henry, I need to fly home immediately. I won’t be able to make it tomorrow.”
“John, getting this project is vital to our firm’s future. You’re the key person and the guy they want to talk to. I need you there. ”
“I’m sorry, Henry, but something has come up. You’ve heard me talk about Matthew Wilson, the basketball player that got hurt last night. Well, all his classmates promised him that if he ever needed us we would be there for him. He needs me.”
“John, you can’t go. I’m telling you now; if you’re not here tomorrow afternoon for the presentation you can forget about working for this company.”
“Henry, I’m sorry it’s come to this, but I have no choice. This man did everything for us when we were in high school and I wouldn’t be here if it were not for him. He is the one who convinced me that I was wasting my life and I needed to settle down and apply myself. Believe me, Henry, I respect what we are trying to do here but there is no option for me. I need to be in St. Louis.”
“Well, John, you’re through with this firm; pick up your check next week.”
The following afternoon Henry realized his mistake when the steering committee asked where John was. “He said he couldn’t make this meeting so I fired him yesterday for putting personal business ahead of the company. Our motto is ‘the client comes first’.”
“What type of personal business?”
“Apparently he felt he had to be in St. Louis because a high school classmate of his was injured. I expect more loyalty out of my people than that.”
“You mean he was a classmate of Matthew Wilson?” a member of the steering committee asked; “and you fired him?”
Henry could tell by the looks on their faces that he had made the wrong decision, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the right words. The men at the table said it for him. “I think I can speak for everyone and say that if he’s not rehired, your firm has no chance of getting this contract which we were prepared to award you. I can’t imagine anything more important than what John is doing now. He’s supporting his friend.”
The buses started arriving at the high school around 10 PM and by 11:30 PM ninety luxury tour buses were loaded with over 700 people. The county had agreed to donate school buses, but Tom Osteen had managed to get Greyhound and local tour bus operators to donate the luxury buses. “I would like to take credit for this,” Tom told a bunch of people, “but it only took one phone call. Greyhou
nd agreed to provide what they could and promised to convince the others to donate the rest. I’m told we could have had 200 buses if we needed them.”
“And the drivers?”
“All volunteers; not one of them will take a penny.”
At midnight, 16 hours after Hayes first went on TV to make his plea, the caravan, including an ambulance carrying Mrs. Reynolds and a volunteer hospice nurse, left the school escorted by six Wisconsin highway patrol cars with lights flashing. The caravan reached I-90 in twenty minutes and headed south towards Chicago. Ninety minutes later they approached the state line and were greeted by an escort of Illinois highway patrolmen who escorted them through the toll booths without stopping. The mood in the buses was grim, but they were greeted by cheers and home-made signs from pedestrians that lined every bridge they passed under. “We are praying for Matthew Wilson,” was the prevalent theme.
Some people slept and many prayed, but everybody was thinking their own thoughts about Matthew. At Springfield, Illinois, they exited for food and a half-hour break. Fast food restaurants had volunteered to stay open for the special caravan and had been blocked off to insure a fast turnaround. It was amazing the amount of planning that the Illinois highway patrol officials had done to make this trip as easy as possible. Forty-five minutes later everybody had been fed and the caravan was on its way once again. At six AM they entered East St. Louis and crossed over the Mississippi River into St. Louis, where the Missouri highway patrol escorted them to their respective hotels. By 7 AM everyone had received their hotel key and was in their room. The advance team and hotel staffs had worked all night to ensure all guests were pre-registered. Eight hundred of the 1,125 people were in St. Louis, with the others coming by airplane and automobile. Jennifer had a list and contact numbers for the 325 that were in transit. Nothing was left to chance.
Lieutenant Pete Smith was one of the servicemen in Iraq that might have to make his own arrangements. He was having trouble getting clearance from his commander after receiving calls from at least ten classmates reminding him of the urgency of getting to St. Louis for Matthew Wilson. He stood in front of his commanding officer, a one star general.
“Sir, it is important that I return to the United States immediately.”
“And, for the last time, Lieutenant Smith, I cannot grant your request. This is the United States Air Force and we cannot grant the wishes of any person who needs to get home for a personal emergency.”
“Yes sir, but this is much more than just a personal reason. Matthew Wilson is truly a special person and he needs me there.”
“Lieutenant, my decision is final. You are confined to your quarters.”
Lieutenant Smith was about to say something he might have later regretted when the General’s assistant interrupted. “Sir, I have a phone call for you.”
“Not now, corporal, I’ll call them back.”
“Sir, its General Adams.”
This was a phone call that he had to take. General Adams was a four star general in charge of the Marine corp.
“General Adams, what can I do for you?”
“Yes, he is standing right here……….yes sir…..yes sir.….yes sir.”
He hung up, his face ashen. “Captain, scramble a MIG. Lieutenant Smith must be at Heathrow Airport in two hours. Lieutenant, you have five minutes to pack your bags and be on the tarmac.”
Ten minutes later the MIG was in the air headed for Heathrow Airport, where they would meet-up with another serviceman from the Navy before boarding Air Force Two; the Vice President of the United States had been in London at a NATO conference. The MIG pilot had explicit instructions to get there before the Navy pilot. The General had made it clear that the Air Force would not be the reason for any delay. These orders had come directly from the President of the United States who had received an order from his father, George Herbert Walker Bush, who had once asked Matthew to let him know if ever there was anything he could do for him. He kept his promise.
The MIG approached Heathrow and received a landing vector from the control tower. The pilot was asked to circle the airport one time while the Navy pilot landed. “Control tower, that is not acceptable. We are short of fuel. I am on course for runway Bravo and will land in sixty seconds.”
“We have a Navy airplane landing on the same runway. You must change course.”
“Patch me through to the Navy pilot.”
“Captain, my chart shows runway Bravo is 170 feet wide. My plane is 80 feet wide, wing tip to wing tip; how about you?”
“I’m 83 feet tip-to-tip, so what’s the problem? I see no reason why we both can’t use the same runway, do you?”
“I certainly do not. Let’s show these people how we fly airplanes in the military. Control tower, we’re coming in.”
A local television station film crew had been monitoring airport transmissions and picked up the conversation between controller and pilot. He caught the landing on live camera and provided immediate feed to the BBC network, where millions of people watched the two pilots approach Heathrow together. The video would later be used in recruiting for both the Air Force and the Navy as the supersonic jets landed simultaneously with wings only inches apart. As the airplanes screeched to a support, three-star Generals and Admirals raced to escort the passengers to the waiting Air Force Two where they were greeted personally by the Vice President of the United States. Fifteen minutes later Air Force Two was in the air and headed for St. Louis. The plane landed at 7:30 PM and twenty five minutes later the two servicemen arrived by helicopter at the Hospital, with four minutes to spare.
Jennifer checked off the final two names from her list. Everyone was here.
Chapter 24 - Protecting the Ark
