As he worked, he glanced at the table a few times. The man returned his gaze. When Jim's work was caught up, he walked over to the table and sat down to talk a while. The man it turned out was Vietnamese and as they talked, they recognized each other, and the more they talked, the more they remembered. Emotions began to swell.

            Jim, is a former U.S. Navy Seal, then part of a Team serving in the mid 70's in formidable places around the World. As Jim and the man talked, the picture cleared. It was in 1975. The Team was sent to aid in the evacuation of Saigon, a very hurried, rushed, semi-chaotic evacuation involving many, many, Vietnamese citizens.

            Jim's Team was inside the compound. A fence separated those outside from those inside. The Team assignment was to get "the big ones" out. All had papers, but "the big ones," those who had made major contributions to the allied war effort, doomed if captured, had special stamps. The fences were lined with people on both sides, those wanting in and those already cleared to be inside who were staying far away from the blade wash of those choppers as they came in, waiting for the okay sign to board.

            At Jim's Team's station, a young doctor rushed over with his wife, the two of them carrying their four young children in their arms followed by eighteen adopted orphans. The Team helped them all board, all but one of the eighteen whom they could not locate. The chopper was off and gone with that lub-lub-lub, that back wash of dust and debris, that smell of fuel exhausted, and oil, and whatever else was in the air. Jim knew a couple chopper destinations but that was privileged information. He knew not where the doctor was going.

            Now, here was Jim, twenty-three years later reliving that time seated across the table from the doctor, Dr. Peng, who eventually escaped to Paris to live and work. He was relocating to the U.S., retiring to the states, to Gainesville where one daughter now lives. He had put all four children through college and had placed all the seventeen orphans in homes. Once Jim and Dr. Peng composed themselves, they parted, both the better for the chance meeting, that very significant meeting there in the Sea Breeze years later.

            Life returned to normal. Then, just a few days ago, Dr. Peng, his wife, and his three grown daughters showed up at the Sea Breeze. Jim met the wife again and the three daughters. It was an emotional moment. Can you imagine the feelings in those young women's hearts as they met face to face one of their rescuers from a time they barely remember? And as they were leaving with a promise of visits to come, Dr. Peng handed Jim a gift, world renowned and much sought after, a bottle of very expensive men's cologne from Paris, an important gift to serve as a token of his personal appreciation to Jim as representative of those who served in that rescue effort, a thank you for a job well done, for giving Dr. Peng and his family the opportunity to be alive, and for the chance for Dr. Peng to continue serving and saving lives the world over.