Dear Friends:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1943, the Marine Corps Fighter Squadron VMA-214, was reformed to help advance the United States’ war in the Pacific. During this campaign, VMA-214 distinguished themselves with an impressive record: 203 air-to-ground planes destroyed, 94 air-to-air combat victories, and the recognition of 8 ace pilots.

The commanding officer was Colonel Pappy Boyington, and he brought together 27 unattached, unequipped, and – some of them – inexperienced men. Perhaps their squadrons had been reassigned or lost in combat. It’s probable their planes had been destroyed in combat. And some of them were fresh from training with all the necessary classroom training, but no practical experience. Feeling “fatherless” they wanted the squadron to be called “Boyington’s Bastards,” but that didn’t quite meet the public relations’ standards for the Marine Corps.

Instead, they were named the “Black Sheep Squadron,” and through their excellence became the most famous Marine Corps Fighter Squadron.

Ever felt like the 27 men of the Black Sheep Squadron? Unattached? Unequipped? Inexperienced? Purposeless? Fatherless? These feelings can permeate any dimension of our lives, but you know it’s especially difficult when they get beyond the superficial layers of our lives into the heart and soul of who we are.

The beauty of Easter is its message of faith, hope and love for the unattached, unequipped and purposeless. Consider these words from the prophet, Isaiah:

The plan was that (Jesus) give himself as an offering for sin
so that he’d see life come from it – life, life and more life;
and God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.
(So God said,) “Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly -
the best of everything, the highest honors -

Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,
because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep.”

- Isaiah 53:10,12

What does that mean in plain English? If Pappy Boyington, being the man he was, can add purpose and meaning to the lives of 27 pilots; then God, being who he is, can add infinitely more life, life and more life (a.k.a. purpose and meaning) to a black sheep like me.

Grace,

John Van Cleef, Captain
Administrator/Corps Officer