500 Bibles

50 Holman Soldier's Bibles

It happens, for various reasons, that I get behind on this journal.  All of this, of course, is written and posted via a computer and I usually use a PC but, in September, my PC went to the doctor for a serious virus infection and it had to be completely wiped and all data and the programs had to be restored.  One comment on that.  These people who write and send viruses are mean; it's just mean and uncalled for; it's theft as they steal from us our ideas and our work.

All of that has to do with this; I keep the records for the Bibles we have given on my computer using Microsoft Excel and I have not yet got all of the programs restored.  So, I have been keeping records with just a notepad.  Our goal was to increase our purchase and donations up to five hundred of the Bibles this calendar year, 2013.  We had some monetary donations to us last year and as I looked at our account, I saw that we could complete a purchase of fifty Bibles and still have a small operating fund left in the account.  Our goal is to provide Bibles, not keep cash on hand, so generally, we are happy with about $200 maintained in the account.

We had dinner at Garfield's last evening, February 3, and after that, I walked over to nearby Ruth's Christian Book Store, ordered and paid for fifty Soldier's Bibles.  I took ten from the store's stock and forty will be on the way to me in a few days.

As mentioned in previous posts, these are Holman Christian Standard Bibles (HCSB), and they are in the series of Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Coastguardsmans Bibles.  Most of those we have given have been the Soldier's Bible and the Marine's Bible but we have given of each in the series, plus a few for police and fire.  More than one hundred of the Bibles have been the Marine's Bible and now over two hundred have been Soldier's Bibles.  I do not have the exact figures on that right now.  The Bibles now cost me $19.99 with the discount that my supplier gives me so the fifty we purchased yesterday cost $999.50.  These is the second time we have been able to purchase fifty at one time.  The last purchased fifty were shipped directly to the 75th Ranger Regiment at an undisclosed location over there.

Driving me to make the purchase now was my goal to reach 500 Bibles in 2013 and I'm pleased that we have done that.  Pleased is understated; I am overjoyed to have reached the goal of 500.  Note that it now costs $19.99, but in the past, before I was offered any discounts, I was paying as much as $26.00 per Bible and then it was lowered to $24.00.  Simple multiplication of $19.99 times 500 would show you an expenditure of $9,995.00 and then when you add the many Bibles that we purchased at the higher prices, you can quickly see that we have exceeded $10,000.  It is not about the amount of the dollar, it is about the quality of the Bible and these are good Bibles and I've been proud to give them to our service women and men.

I wish to thank the donors we have had and with their permission, I would identify them, but I do not yet have permission.

Stephen Joe "Red Boots" Payne

Chance Encounters to Bibles

It is September 17, 2012 and I have failed to make the updates here that I planned.  And, today, I do not yet have a photograph that I would like to post with the page but I will find one soon and update this page with it.  Chance encounters sometimes turn in to opportunities to give a Bible to one of our service men or women.

I have been working with Jay and Susan Hurt and others to bring about the 50th reunion for my Pawhuska High School class of 1962 and as we went along, I spent small sums of money on it.  I bought stamps, a file for record keeping, a plastic box to hold envelopes, envelopes, business cards, several things along that line. And I had intended all along to leave what I spent on the table for the reunion so that proceeds would be donated to the Pawhuska Educational Trust Fund (and I may have its title incorrect).  Last week, the Hurts insisted on settling money with me and returned to me $280.00 which I tried to get them to keep but, well, they were very insistent and said that I could use the money for my vacation to Santa Fe.  I did not feel right keeping the money as it was never my intention.  So, I decided to invest in Bibles.  I had $280.00 plus $20.00 that John Main had paid me for a few photographs I had printed of him, and I told him I could not charge him, a long time friend of so many years, but I would accept a donation for Bibles.  With that, I had $300.00 plus the donation that a gentleman in Tulsa makes plus my $100.00 so we soon had $500.00.  I took the money to my financial organization and deposited it in the account for Bibles.  When I specified the account, the young lady waiting on me asked, politely, "May I ask, (raising her brow), do you give Bibles to the military?"  "Yes," I replied, "We give military Bibles to Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, the whole smear across the board."  She then told me that she knew of a unit in Afghanistan who would like to receive Bibles.  I got her name, e-mail and told her how to find my blog here on the Bibles and I went to Ruth's Christian Book store up the road in the Washington Park Mall.  I ordered thirty Soldier's Bibles with the intent to take them to the larger recruiting station in Tulsa, as I have done now for some seventy Bibles.  I was just thinking that this delivery would make one hundred Bibles delivered to that office.  The soldier I had just met, Jessica Beach, weighed on my thoughts, and through our e-mails, I got her name correctly, took one of the Soldier's Bibles I had at home back to Ruth's and asked for Jessica's name to be printed on it.  I delivered it to her in the late morning and then confirmed a few things we had talked about with the unit she asked me to ship to.  At this writing, we plan to divert this order of thirty to that unit.  Yes, there will be a few more complications than just driving sixty miles to deliver them, but I hope the station has enough Bibles for a while to allow me to send this order to the unit.  I have a few more e-mails to exchange with Jessica and the sergeant but then they will be on their way where I know they will be received well.

See how a chance encounter with someone turned out to be good?

Stephen

Blue Star Mothers Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Anita Scaler (seated) and Della Wilson (standing)
Washington Park Mall, August 4, 2012

Blue Star Mothers Bartlesville, Oklahoma

I like to use something visual with my writing and my original plan for this page was to be photographs of the new edition of the Holman Military Branch Bibles.  I bought three just for photographs, but I have not yet made the photographs.  These three Bibles will be given away to a Soldier, an Airman and a Marine as soon as I have completed photographs of them for this blog.

I have purchased Bibles from Living Word Store in Washington Park Mall, in Bartlesville, owned by Melvin Nichols, for about four or five years now.  Melvin has retired and closed the store in February but he continued to fill my needs from his home until the recent opening of Ruth's Christian Store, also in the mall but at a different location.  On Saturday, August 4, we purchased five Soldier's Bibles and gave them to the women of the Blue Star Mothers seen in this photograph to give to any soldier, wife of a soldier, mom of a soldier, who came by and asked about the Bible since one was displayed prominently in the center of the exhibit.  By the end of the day, four of the Bibles had found homes.  The Blue Star Mothers have home made items which they sell at the monthly exhibit for fund raising.  I asked them to just say that the Bibles were paid for and to take it to Ruth's for imprinting of the soldier's name on the Bible.  I also arranged for five military Bibles to be paid for and kept in the store.  It was just a blanket payment for any military Bible on the shelf so that a dependent could pick it up, take it over to the cashier, and then be told that her or his Bible had been paid for.  I was pleased to learn today that four Bibles were taken.  I don't know the branch or who took them; I only know that it was a blessing to several of them.  In fact, the lady who waited on me today, when I bought an Airman's Bible for my young cousin serving in Japan, whom I have not yet met, told me that a young wife had told her that she wanted to get a Bible for her army husband but could not afford it.  Ellie told the young wife, "Your Bible has been paid for so all you have to do is  pick one out, bring it over and we'll print his name on it."

My Aunt, Julia Hardy Griffin, was a Gold Star Mother of World War II.  This is not good for to be a Gold Star Mother, you must lose a son or daughter in war.  My older cousin, Bennett Griffin, her son, was lost in battle in 1944, possibly in the Battle of the Bulge.  I only knew him through photographs, his ribbons and medals and the grave I visit in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

The Blue Star Mothers is an organization of the mothers of servicemen but it's not restricted just to mothers.  In a official capacity, yes, but there are auxiliary volunteers and young women who help by volunteering time and energy for fund raising efforts.  I help here in the smallest of ways.  I attend their fund raising efforts, breakfast once each month, the exhibit and sales they have at the mall once a month and other small ways.  I photograph events when I can and I share the photographs on Facebook and Flickr.  I also photograph the service men and women and give them or the families portraits when I have made a good one.

But my main contribution is what I do in giving the military Bibles.  Most of the expense has been borne by me, and my wife has helped in contributions as well.  Then we have had a few contributors.  We have not solicited funds with the exception of when I told the Pawhuska Methodist Men's Group that we would accept a donation and they generously provided us with $200.00.  We have one consistent contributor and I do not have permission to publish his name yet.  And, a former marine who is from my home town of Pawhuska contributed $500.00.  With $100.00 we can furnish five Bibles to service men and women.

I had said that our total was about 275 Bibles and I thought that to be correct.  But, alas, my Excel program tells me that we have provided 257 Bibles and our expense for Bibles has been $6,057.24 for Bibles.  Any mailing costs are separate and I absorb those without keeping a record; I just buy a box and pay for mailing and consider it a minor expense.  The Bibles are the main thing.

Along with the Blue Star Mothers, I am the Red Shirt Fridays for our area.  I tell people about Red Shirt Fridays and I  have shirts I have purchased from the Red Shirt group but, so far, I seem to be the only person here who is involved in Red Shirt Fridays.

Our efforts are small and we what we do with our Bible project is small, but it's still something and I'll do it as long as I can.

Stephen Joe "Red Boots" Payne

Report on Bibles Delivered Veteran's Day 2011

SFC Nic Ninkovich, United States Army (photograph by Red Boots)

I have failed to write here for some time and so I have not reported.  As of today, 11-11-11, or November 11, 2011, we have given 165 Holman Military Service Branch Bibles.  We have given 101 Bibles to members of the United States Marine Corps (USMC), 39 to soldiers of the United States Army, 16 to sailors of the United States Navy (including my own Sailor's Bible), 4 to members of the United States Air Force, 1 to a Coastguardsman and 4 have gone to police and firemen.  Our cost for this project has been $4,227 for Bibles alone.  We have had associated mailing and packaging expenses also, but I have erred in not keeping detailed records on those expenses.  I think we have done quite a job considering that we are just one person with limited resources but, make no mistake about a man with a mission; it can be done.

We have had $100.00 in donations from other people and I did some work for an old friend, computer and photography, who wanted to pay me.  I could not accept money from her for I owe her and her husband so much for the kindnesses I have received from them over the years.  I owe them for the friendship they have provided me, and for the care for my son.  Their daughter was the first young woman to baby sit for us and they were a comfort to me when I lost my son.  How could I take money from her for something that I love to do?  Then she asked, "Stephen, what about your Bible project?  What if I gave you money for it?"  How could I refuse that, gifts for marines and soldiers?  I couldn't so she bought two Bibles.  The rest has been from my pockets.

I met a man at my favorite restaurant in Tulsa, The Longhorn Steakhouse, and I was wearing a ball cap with "USS Point Defiance (LSD-31)" and a ship logo on it, so, it was natural to talk about our service.  I learned he had been career Army, starting as an enlisted man and becoming an officer and rising to retire as a Lieutenant Colonel.  We exchanged business cards and I mailed him a Soldier's Bible with his name on it.  Sometime later, I received a wonderful letter from him in which he wrote that he would like to contribute, and generously.  I just replied to him and then today, I began a search for an attorney to talk to about setting up a nonprofit organization for this mission.  I have had one conversation with an attorney, one who served in the Marine Corps, and I will likely follow up with him to see if this is something I can do.  Any money I spend on attornies is money not spent on Bibles and I have to focus and remember what our mission is.  "Our mission to give Military Service Branch Bibles, The Marine's Bible, The Soldier's Bible, The Sailor's Bible, to the enlisted men and women and officers of the United States Armed Forces, and veterans, to the best of our ability, for as long as we are able."

March 9, 2011, this year, quite obviously, I was invited to the New Soldier's Awards and banquet program which was held in the local American Legion, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  I am a photographer so I took my camera and I took many photographs of the young men and women who were to receive various awards for their accomplishments as new soldiers.  Also, Major Paul Clark was retiring after twenty-five years of service in the United States Army. Major Clark, Sergeant First Class Robert Kowal, and Staff Sergeant Ricky Stewart, the Bartlesville Station Commander presented awards to the individuals.  Major Clark took time to tell the young soldiers and their families his story.  He began as an enlisted soldier, served in his assignments and as he moved along in commands, he began to take college courses.  He told the young soldiers, and old veterans who attended, about his success in college and how it eventually led to his becoming an officer.  He spoke at length about the opportunities he had received from the army and he said that he was the first person in his family to have a college education.  I took photographs of Major Clark and his two sergeants standing in front of the great American flag adorning most of one wall in the American Legion post. 

Coincidentally, the date of this presentation fell on the 50th anniversary of the date upon which I stood, with three other new sailors, raised my right hand and took the oath of enlistment.  It was a somber moment, one filled with both fear and pride, and not a small sense of accomplishment as a navy Captain with four full stripes shook hands with each of us and offered, "Congratulations.  You are now men of the United States Navy."  I was seventeen and by less than a month so anyone using my name and man in the same sentence was bound to impress me as I was still struggling to figure out what I was.  Major Clark and the sergeants knew that the day would be my anniversary and they chose to let me celebrate it with brothers, new brothers, young ones, but brothers by virtue of the oath of enlistment, by virtue of the uniform I had worn, and they one they would soon wear.  Different of course, one a sailor's uniform, one a soldier's uniform, but they represented many of the same things and a common understanding existed among us of what that brotherhood meant.  It meant boot camp, non-commissioned officers, being shouted out, abused--in the name of discipline--long hours, little rest, long lines, eating in mess halls, sleeping with a hundred men in a small room, and pride.

In the end, it is impossible not to feel pride.  There is pride in the uniform, in the colors, in marching, in hearing your song for your service branch, pride in just knowing that you served, that you did your duty, somehow.

That evening, not only did they join me in celebrating that fifty year mark in my life, from seventeen to sixty-seven, but the soldiers gave me an award which I was told each of them had contributed to.  It was a clock contained in a wooden enclosure with a plaque marking not only my service but my Military Service Bible Project. It is a beautiful instrument and I photographed it, that's what we photographers do, photograph, everything and often.  I was both embarrassed and filled with pride.  Embarrassed because I did not feel I had done anything to deserve their reward, filled with pride just because they had given me an award.  I give Bibles, but not with expectation for anything.  When I began I wanted to get others to help and to also give Bibles, and that has happened as people learn from me about the military Bibles.  After I had given about ten, I set a formal goal to give one hundred to the Marine Corps and see where it went from there.  Along the way, I also gave some to soldiers, sailors, airmen and a coast-guards man.  I have kept track of them and we have now given 120 Military Service Bibles; 84 have gone to marines, 19 to soldiers, 10 to sailors and the rest divided up in various ways.  With 84 having gone to marines, 16 more will meet that goal and I will concentrate on the army for a while with a change in my goal.  When will I quit?  I don't think I will. not as long as I am able.  The project has cost me $3,155.64 so far, just in Bibles and I still have shipping costs with some of them, and I don't monitor the shipping, packing and other costs, just the costs of the Bibles.  I shared my numbers with Sergeant Kowal recently; he has become a friend as well as a soldier I know.  Sergeant Kowal digested the figure I had shown him and he said, "That's a lot of money."  And I said, "It's worth it."

I am glad to do it, small as it is, but I feel good about it and I take a lot of pride in doing it.  I am also proud of the gift the soldiers have given me.  It is an honor.

Stephen J. Payne

It seems worthwhile to report every now and then on our progress.  To date, April 25, 2011, we have given 111 Holman Military Branch Bibles.  Eighty of those have been The Marine's Bible with seventeen going to soldier's as The Soldier's Bible and nine going to sailors as The Sailor's Bible.  I have The Sailor's Bible as I was in the United States Navy.  The remaining number given have been to airmen and coast guardsmen.  I am asked about our funding which is easy to explain.  We have none.  I use my personal funds from any earnings I have and from my Social Security income and I generally buy about five bibles each month.  Now and then I receive additional income and with it, first thing before I spend any of it on myself, my family or anything else, I estimate needs and then I buy from five to seven of the bibles.  This is not a fast project but a steady one.  As you can see from those numbers, we generally are able to give about twenty-five to thirty bibles each year.  I give the Marine's Bibles to our local Marine recruiting staff and allow them to offer these bibles to marines going through their command.  Some marines say, "No thank you." and we understand that.  It is just what we offer.  When I know the marine's name, it is printed on the bible.  When I do not know to whom the bible will go, the printing reads "To a Marine."

When I know the soldier or marine, I ask them, "Would you like a bible?" and if he or she says "Yes" then I get the name as they would like it and the store prints the name on the bible.  Within the first few pages of the bible is a page with "Given to:" and "Given by:"  I have completed very few of those and usually only when someone asks me to do so.  I want the gift to be about the bible and not about me or the project.  A few have asked me to write my name for them and I have.  I generally leave those spaces blank so that the recipient feels that the bible is truly his or hers and they can complete it.  In my own Sailor's Bible, I have written my information which includes my name, my enlistment date, training commands and my ship, the USS Point Defiance (LSD-31), my assignments, including the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and information important to me about my life and my family.  I lost my son, Stephen William Payne (1967-2003) to diabetes and his short life is recorded there.

These are fine bibles, compact in size, tough because of the leather cover, and they are special to each serviceman because there is a section in the back filled with information by and about great military leaders of the United States Armed Forces.  These include General George Patton's weather prayer of 1944, thoughts by General Jimmy Stewart, who was also a great American movie actor.

Now and then, someone will hear about us and make a donation of a few bibles.  What they usually do is ask me about the cost and then write a check for the price of two bibles, about $50.00 give or take a few cents.  Actually, today a bible costs me $24.61; if I have to ship it to the soldier, then I am out for the cost of a package and shipping.  I keep track of the costs of bibles, which has now reached $2,936.02.  I have not kept track of any other associated costs.  By mentioning this figure, it is not a complaint.  I receive more joy from this than anyone can imagine, especially now and then when I get to personally see the deep appreciation many of these young men and women offer in return.

A word about the image I chose for this edition.  This is the American flag posted at our local American Legion in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where I attended ceremonies for future soldiers on March 9, 2011.  Coincidentally, that day was the 50th anniversary of the day I enlisted and took the oath of enlistment for the United States Navy.  This is a large flag and it's worn and faded.  It was a wonderful back drop for the ceremonies held that evening and the flag is what it is ultimately all about for any of us who have worn the uniforms of our armed forces.  Many of us notice the flag without looking at it, without seeing it.  In the service it is called colors and the ceremonies we deliver are special.  We have the color guard who carry and present the flag and honor it at all public ceremonies.  Once you have put on the uniform and felt the brotherhood that binds us all, you can never, never see the flag in the same way again.  From that day forward it represents men you have known and shared your life with, and whom you remember and honor as time goes rapidly by and some fall by the way.  It represents commands where you trained or served.  It represents ships in which we served and places where Americans fell and lie there still, a few of them friends of mine from Pawhuska.  The military isn't easy and it isn't perfect, but it's one of the most magnificent clubs we can ever join.  The American flag, Old Glory, and all the names it might be known by, represents the American freedom, which ironically includes the right to burn it in a public place in protest.  To be what it is to us, they must have that right, whether we like it or not.  It gives me the right to offer these bibles to young men and women who wear the uniform and I am forever grateful for that right, honor and privilege.  And you will never, never see me burn or consciously injure the flag of the United States of America. 

Stephen Joe "Red Boots" Payne

The Soldier's Bible; "He is the People."

Sergeant First Class Robert Kowal, United States Army

Some time after I had begun giving The Marine's Bible directly to the marine recruiters, Sergeant Matthew Ocasio and Gunnery Sergeant Charles Baker, I stopped by to leave five Marine's Bibles and the office was closed.  Next door and slightly to the west was the Army Recruiting Office and I asked the sergeant there if I could leave the bibles with them for the marines.  Sergeant Deberry allowed me to leave them for the marines to pick up and I asked him if he knew about The Soldier's Bible and he told me that he had one he had purchased when he enlisted in the army some years before.  I took one of his calling cards and a little later, I delivered The Soldier's Bible with his name, Kirby Deberry,  imprinted on the cover. I did that without asking him because I knew he had one and liked it a lot.  Sergeant First Class Kowal worked with Deberry under the command of Sergeant Ronald Cains.  When I had a chance, I asked Sergreant Kowal if he would like one of the bibles and he said that he would.  Later, I had the chance to ask Sergeant Cains who also said he would, so soon after Deberry had his bible, I bought The Soldier's Bible for both Kowal and Cains, so I had pretty well supplied the office with them.

Sergeant Cains was approaching retirement and asked me one day if I would complete the section where the names were intended for the giver and the recipient.  Cains said, "Years from now, I'll remember that you gave this to me but I won't remember your name, so please print it for me and then sign it."  I completed that for him and now and then someone asks me to do that.  I don't usually because I am in a rush to get the bible to its owner and I don't want to be presumptuous.  I know that the bible is what is important, not who gave it to the recipient because they don't really know me.  A few do, yes, but most might know who I am or something small about me, but that's all.  We connect only through the recruiter or sometimes a parent, relative or friend of the soldier or soldier to be. 

One lady who heard about our giving bibles to the soldiers asked someone and I got word of her request and I bought a bible for her grandson, who was enlisting soon, and I just happened to deliver it when she was in the beauty shop.  She asked me to thank the people who did this service, and one of the women there turned to her and said, "He is the people who do this." 

I know people know and care about our small program.  Some do not say thanks, and notice that I did not say "do not even say thanks."  Some people are stunned or overwhelmed when a stranger does an act of kindness, any act of kindness, and in their hearts they are saying thank you.  It's just hard for them to say thank you and I understand, so I don't worry about it.

About a week ago, a dear friend gave me $50.00 and told me to use it to buy bibles.  Since he, Warrant Officer William "Bill" Quick, was a soldier, it seemed only right to use his generous donation to buy Soldier's Bibles so I bought two.  One went to Sergeant Curtis Hedspeth, a previously enlisted soldier who was rejoining the army.  He was in the office completing some papers when we gave him The Soldier's Bible.  It was a joy to watch him, as he looked at it, saw his name on the cover, rose from his chair and walked around to where I sat, shook my hand profusely and said a sincere thank you.  I was overjoyed that he was so moved by this simple gesture.  It just makes me feel good when one of the soldiers gives me that kind of reward.

As the lady said, "He is the people who do this."

Stephen Joe Payne