Beyond the Runway: An Air Force Veteran on the Front Lines of Humanitarian Aviation

You can fly a perfect approach and still be miles from help if the “runway” is a strip carved out of jungle. That’s why I wanted to sit down with Fran DeRocher, an old friend from our Guam days, to talk about the kind of aviation most people never see: Mission Aviation Fellowship’s real-world humanitarian airlift across remote parts of Africa, where the airplane is the only road in or out. 

We start with the memories that shaped us, from brutal no-AC barracks to scuba dives on Guam’s stunning reefs, then follow Fran’s winding path from Air Force service to earning the training that mission aviation demands. He breaks down what MAF actually carries: medical teams, critical medicine, drums of fuel, pastors and translators, NGO staff, and the everyday supplies that keep remote clinics and communities running. We also dig into the operational side of bush flying, including why MAF historically relied on pilot-mechanics, how the fleet has evolved from piston aircraft to turbine platforms like the Caravan, and what it takes to operate safely when infrastructure is thin. 

Fran shares the moments that still raise your pulse, including unrest in East Congo and what it feels like to land in a place where weapons are pointed outward, and nothing is guaranteed. We also talk about Ebola response and the strict protocols that protect patients, crews, and communities when an outbreak turns logistics into life-or-death decision-making. If you care about aviation, humanitarian work, Christian nonprofits, or life after the military, this conversation is for you. 

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Transcript

Welcome And Guam Reunion

Larry Zilliox 0:14

Good morning. I'm your host, Larry Zilliox, Director of Culinary Services here at the Warrior Treaty Bull Run. And this week our guest is Fran DeRocher. He is with an organization called Mission Aviation Fellowship, which is an organization out of Idaho that does uh missionary work in Africa and mostly flying charity work. And we're going to talk all about that, as well as the fact that Fran and I were stationed together in Guam, by my calculations, somewhere in the neighborhood of 46 or 47 years ago. And so we're going to talk a little bit about that and life after the Air Force and uh how he got involved with uh missing aviation fellowships. So, Fran, welcome to the podcast.

Fran Derocher 1:04

Well, it's great to be here. Um, yeah, I I couldn't I tried to calculate those years and my calculator didn't work that far. Um, it's been it's been a number, and uh it's just great to be able to talk with you and catch up a little bit and uh just greetings to all uh your listeners.

Larry Zilliox 1:20

Yeah, do you remember when you got to uh I I know I was probably already there when you got there. I got there in probably late 78.

Fran Derocher 1:28

Yep. Um, it was uh it was 78. Yeah, that's right about right. I was there, we were there 15 months, I think. At least I was there. Wow. And um were you there when we were living in the Kwanzett huts?

Larry Zilliox 1:41

Oh yeah, down at Andy South.

Fran Derocher 1:43

Yeah, because of the uh uh typhoon that they had had the year or two before.

Larry Zilliox 1:48

Yeah, and they were remodeling the dorm. Right. Yeah, yeah.

Fran Derocher 1:51

I thought that was pretty exotic, actually.

Larry Zilliox 1:55

It was brutal. Just so people understand, we got I got there and it was a couple months later when they came and they said, Oh, pack your stuff, you're going down to Andy South. And I'm like, Well, what does that even mean? And it said, No, it's barracks down there, we're gonna remodel the barracks you're in now. I said, you know, okay, how long is that gonna take? And they said, about six or eight months. I'm like, holy

Life In The Quonset Huts

Larry Zilliox 2:19

cow! And they took us to these Vietnam era concrete dormitories down there with no air conditioning, and we were working midnights, right? We were working four to four to midnight or midnight to eight, and which meant we were sleeping during the daytime, the hottest time of the year, the day. And man, was it it was tough. It was tough.

Fran Derocher 2:43

Yeah, I do remember it's pretty brutal. I mean, you know, you think you're coming to a beautiful new location and then you end up in the jungle just cooking. So uh there's a lot of great things about Guam, but that was not necessarily one of them.

Larry Zilliox 2:56

No, that was um, that was that was tough. Um, beautiful island. Uh I learned the scuba dive there, which I love. Um, did you dive with us? I don't remember.

Fran Derocher 3:07

Yeah, I think I did, unless you were before me on that. Where did you go on the it's a hundred-foot depth dive to an old wreck?

Larry Zilliox 3:14

Yes, the checkout dive that we did in uh the harbor down at the Navy base, because it was a Navy guy that taught us.

Fran Derocher 3:21

Right. Uh that was one of my highlights actually of Guam was learning to dive and just the incredible beauty. That place I've been around a little bit, different parts of the world. That's probably the most beautiful I've seen as far as diving. Um, just the clarity, uh, the beauty, and just the just the mixture of things to see. Yeah. Um, yeah, that that dive on the that boat was hilarious because I didn't realize we got down there and we went up and there was an air pocket in the cabin still. Yeah. So the instructor would fill it up with air, and then we took our masks off and started talking. Do you remember that?

Larry Zilliox 3:54

Yeah, and you sounded like Mickey Mouse. Your voice was really high because you were what two atmospheres down. Yeah, everything was compressed.

Fran Derocher 4:02

Yeah, I wasn't expecting that. It was hilarious. That was a good laugh. Yeah.

Larry Zilliox 4:08

The only thing I didn't like about that was it was inside the what was called uh a shipwreck called the American Tanker, and it was a uh tanker used during World War II that was sunk in the harbor. And when it sunk, it listed, and it listed sort of at a I don't know, 45-50 degree angle, which caused that that pocket to have. But you had to go through the tanker to get there. And if you were first with the instructor, that was great. If you were last, there was so much silt kicked up from the other divers that it I was super claustrophobic. I did not like that. I was certain something was gonna come out of nowhere and eat me. And uh I I mean, I got in there, I said, Oh yeah, this is great, let's get out of here. And then yeah, and then we just rallied, we rallied on the deck, the front part, and then the whole idea was everybody was gonna pop their BC and you just shoot up to the surface at about, I don't know, 70 feet,

Scuba Diving And Reef Mishaps

Larry Zilliox 5:10

just constantly exhaling. The whole thing was just crazy.

Fran Derocher 5:13

Yeah, yeah, that was that was a great time. Uh I remember another time. I think you guys were all going diving just outside the reef, and I had I guess I opted out. And it turns out a storm came up out of nowhere, and you guys had a really rough time out there. That's one of the things I remember.

Larry Zilliox 5:30

Yeah, I remember we we got uh we got sucked out outside the reef uh through the through a cut that was in the reef where the the power the power plant water rushed out and it sucked us out, and then we while we were outside the reef, everybody got separated and there were everybody mostly came in. Peg and Ellie and I came in, um, but we got caught up on the reef and we got pounded into the reef by a by wave after wave and had to go to the clinic and kind of get patched up, got the night off. But yeah, other than that, everything was pretty safe and and fun to dive uh in Guam. It was it was a great assignment. Do you remember when you took us down for the tour of your brother's ship down at the other end of the island?

Fran Derocher 6:19

Oh yeah, uh the Hunley.

Larry Zilliox 6:21

Um yeah, it's a subtle.

Fran Derocher 6:24

Yeah, my brother David was uh he just happened to be in Guam the time I arrived. So he actually picked me up at the airport and uh got me to the station, and that was really cool. And so we hung out a little bit, and then he was able to take us over and give a little tour. So that was that was kind of special.

Larry Zilliox 6:41

Yeah, I do remember that. I'll tell you what I remember the most out of that was we got there, and uh you have to wait to be to get signed into the ship, you know, you just can't walk on board, and there's a gate shack there, and there's a Marine in the gate shack who who's guarding the entrance because the Marine Corps provides security for the Navy. Um, and uh well, especially when they're in port like that. And so we were standing there and Johnny Walker was with me, and I don't know, you guys were all standing outside the the little hut, and Johnny and I were in there, and uh I started looking at this at this Marine and I I noticed that uh he he just had an M16, and you remember what it was like when we went to work. We were cops up the other end of the island guarding the nukes and and gardened the B-52s. The amount of nonsense that we carried to work, M16s with grenade launchers, M60 machine guns with 500 rounds and in you know cans and and uh you had you had two ammo packs on your belt with three magazines each, 30 round magazines. And I'm looking at this Marine and he doesn't have anything. And I'm I'm I said to Johnny, I said, Johnny, this guy, he didn't have anything. What what's where's his ammo? And uh Johnny was looking at me like I don't know what where and finally I said uh I said Marine, where are your bullets? And he said, uh um I'm sorry, sir, you have to wait outside. And then I'm like, okay, yeah. So we went out, and then your brother showed up and I asked him, I said, this guy didn't have any bullets. He's oh, they don't give him bullets. He says they teach him to they teach him to kill, and they don't want him just shooting some drunk marine who comes back to the ship, you know, late at night and gives them a hard time. And I said, That makes sense, I guess, yeah. Uh, but it was a that was fun, and I'll tell you what, when I had we had that tour, when we were done, I was never so glad that I had joined the Air Force than seeing the way your brother and them lived down there at that on that ship.

Fran Derocher 8:58

You and me both. I all my brothers actually uh well, one was in the army just a short time, but the other two brothers were in the navy, and uh I never could understand uh I I'm glad I chose the Air Force, it's uh way, way much better for me anyway.

Larry Zilliox 9:12

Yeah, for sure, for sure. So was you were there about 15 months. I was there three three years, two months, eighteen days, 10 hours, and 32 minutes. Um was was that your last duty assignment, or where'd you go after that?

Fran Derocher 9:27

Oh, you're such a hoot. That's pretty good, right down to the minute. Yeah um I uh the reason why I had to go to Guam is because I was in my nut. So they had to send me to Thawade.

Larry Zilliox 9:38

I was in Loring. That's where they sent me after going to Loring.

Fran Derocher 9:43

Yeah, that was my last assignment. Um, you know, sometime during that time in the 15 months, I decided that uh that that was enough for me. And uh, you know, what was next was unclear, but definitely I was just didn't want to stay uh in the Air Force.

Larry Zilliox 10:00

Yeah, no, I get that. Uh I extended two years to eat up my reserve commitment because I wanted to be out and be

Touring A Navy Submarine

Larry Zilliox 10:09

out forever and never have to worry about them calling me back. So I I get that. Um so you you got out and how did you how did you wind up with uh with uh maf and and and tell tell everybody what you did for them once once you got involved.

Fran Derocher 10:30

It's kind of a windy road. Um uh first I want to make sure that people understand I love being in the air force, so yeah, no, it wasn't, you know, I can't wait to get out. I I really truly enjoyed it. Yeah. Um, you know, just the experiences, the things we got to see, the things we got to do, um were were quite great. And uh it it beats staying in town. Um so I when I I always had an interest in aviation. When I was in North Dakota in the Air Force um at Mina, I had a couple friends that were working on their private license. And so I would go along with them down to the the local uh fixed space operate operator and I'd ride along with them. And uh at the time they had a special deal going on, and for fifty you pay for 15 hours and you can solo. And I did that, and uh I kind of caught the bug. Um, didn't do anything else with it uh at that time, and so I got out of the air force. Uh, I went to a small community college in uh Marinette, Wisconsin. I lived in Menominee, Michigan.

Larry Zilliox 11:33

Wow.

Fran Derocher 11:34

And um uh I just you know started talking to uh to some of the instructors and the the folks that I was working with, and they knew I had an interest in aviation. I said, Hey, why don't you try uh a technical stool school down in uh Kenosha, Wisconsin, called Gateway Technical Institute? Um, they trained pilots down there and mechanics, and I said, Oh, okay. And I went down there and that's where I actually got my private license. Um, the great thing about coming back and going to that community college or university extension, that's where I met my dear wife. So that was the best part of it all.

Larry Zilliox 12:10

And when did when did you get involved with Mission Aviation Fellowship?

Fran Derocher 12:15

Yeah, that took um uh let's see, I'm trying to think. Because 1991 was when we actually left the US uh on our first assignment. Um, we went first had to go to France to get our uh French language. Uh we ended up in what was Zaire at the time. Um that's that's when we started. I mean, the reality is it took another five years of school uh at Moody Aviation, it was called in Tennessee at the time. They're no longer there to get a mechanics license and uh commercial instrument ticket. So that took quite a quite a bit of time. Initial assignment was uh in Zaire. And uh, you know, how did how did we ever get there? What was the thing that got us that direction? And I just think the good Lord is he just has given me a a heart to serve, and uh I loved aviation, and then I learned about this thing called mission aviation, and the two are just a perfect fit. Um, I'm not sure my wife would agree with that. Um, she was not so much on board initially. Um, but uh yeah, so our first assignment was in Zaire at the time. You know, you're old or too old when they change the name of the country on you.

Larry Zilliox 13:33

Woof, yeah. Yeah, and so you you're there and you're flying uh missionary, basically missionary work flying around. What are you doing? Are you hauling people? Are you hauling um Bibles? You hauling uh food? What what does that look like?

Fran Derocher 13:50

That that that is such a great question. You're hauling it all. I mean, because reality is there's you're kind of supporting our your logistics for the people that are they're out in the middle of nowhere. I mean, in the middle of the jungle, basically. And they need everything uh brought in. You know, they can eat locally, they can eat what's what's

From Air Force To Pilot

Fran Derocher 14:10

available, but there's certain things they need for their work. Uh, if they're a doctor, they need medicine. Um, you know, you have uh medical professionals, yes, there's Bibles, there's pastors, church people, um, but NGOs as well. And uh so it's just a real mixed bag. We'd fly fuel, drums of fuel out to the jungle, um, because there's no roads. I mean, the place we were serving. Um, and uh the only way in and out was was literally by air. And uh so it was it was great. I mean, it was uh quite fulfilling, quite difficult. Um, um, but loved it. Loved it a lot.

Larry Zilliox 14:49

And so your job was basically to support, have a support network to support the on-the-ground missionaries throughout the country with whatever they needed. What are some of the other countries that you you flew in besides Zaire?

Fran Derocher 15:06

Uh from there, uh, we personally went to Lesotho, which is in southern Africa, surrounded by South Africa, a small mountainous kingdom, and then up to Kenya uh for the bulk of our time in Africa. Um, but MEF is is worldwide, it's not just Africa.

Larry Zilliox 15:24

Sure.

Fran Derocher 15:25

Um South America, we got like 50 aircraft, uh, you got Indonesia, Latin America, Australia, and Africa, um, and South America. So yeah, we're all over the place. But yeah, that was the main bulk of the work. In different places, we're focused on different things. Um, in Lesotho, it was mainly medical work only, as we supported the Lesotho fly, um, yeah, the Lesotho Flying Doctor Service, which was a government entity. And they would fly medical teams out to the mountains to the very remote clinics, and they would put on a dental clinic or medical clinic, and they'd stay for a day, and then we'd pick them up at the end of the day and bring them back to the capital. So that was about 90% of our flying was medical in Lesotho. So each place is a little bit different, it's got its own unique uh flavor. Um, but yeah, the aircraft was a great tool for some of the places we flew into.

Larry Zilliox 16:20

Yeah, it's the only way to get there for sure. Um, and I get why they sent you to school to um uh mechanic school. It sounds like, you know, it everything was on you. If you're if your plane didn't start, you had to figure out why and fix it, or you're just not getting back out of the jungle, right?

Fran Derocher 16:40

Yep. And that that was that was, you know, from the the foundation or the founding of MAF, uh mission aviation was was really after World War II. A bunch of uh Christian pilots decided, you know, this would be a nice tool to to do some good. And uh that's when it started, and the model was mechanic pilot. And so it wasn't just pilot, it wasn't just we did have just mechanics, but mainly they wanted to send out pilot mechanics for that exact reason because you go into go into a remote strip and something goes wrong, you gotta be able to figure it out. Um so now things have changed a little bit. Um back in my early days, most of the aircraft were piston aircraft, small Cessna 206, 185. Um, and now they're we're moved up to the caravan, which you know, 10 C turbine. Um, we have one Pilatus and a bunch of caravans and a thing called a Kodiak. So it's it's a lot more complex, and so it's become a lot more it's it's no longer a mix of pilot mechanic. We have mechanic specialists now, especially for the more uh what's the word?

Larry Zilliox 17:48

Real plane? Real real plane, not not not like a car with wings.

Fran Derocher 17:55

Yeah, that's uh that's how old you are. They got you around.

Larry Zilliox 18:03

That's how old you are. They they just a piston engine, holy back. That's what's in your in your lawnmower, folks. Like uh how do you how do you thinking about your Air Force career and and and being in the military, just in general in the service, how did that help you in this kind of work?

Fran Derocher 18:26

Well, I think there's two things. I mean, the first the first thing I would say is that you know, I you know, I sometimes you shake your head and wonder what the good lord's doing, taking two my wife and I are from UPM, Michigan, and then sending us to Africa. And they go, what on earth? Um, but the experiences that I had being able to travel outside of you know my hometown, I think were invaluable

Mission Aviation Fellowship Explained

Fran Derocher 18:50

because what you you learn about different cultures, you learn about different people. And the Air Force has, I mean, you know as well as I do, we're not all the same and we're all very different people. And you have to learn to to live with people maybe that aren't your best friends. And it's just massively helpful. Um, it just gives you life life lessons that uh to carry over into the work I was doing.

Larry Zilliox 19:12

And what um what was your favorite country to let's do it, what let's ask two questions here. What was your favorite country to live in? And then what was your favorite country in Africa to fly in?

Fran Derocher 19:26

Great question. To live in, I would have to say Kenya. Um the just the the variety of, you know, you had your wild animals, you had game parks, you had the beautiful coast you could go to. There's mountains, there's desert areas to the north. So it's very, very mixed bag for Kenya. Beautiful, beautiful place, beautiful people loved it. Flying in, uh, let's go in. My least favorite was Lesotho, mountainous turbulence that would shake your teeth. Um very important and helpful to be there, but uh not my most favorite. I I think because Zaire was the first one, it's your first love, right? First assignment. I just I just liked flying in in Congo. Um it was uh was quite challenging, um, but not not like Lesute do with the mountains. It was more jungle, a lot of rain, weather, that kind of thing.

Larry Zilliox 20:19

And back then it it was it all visual flight? There were you weren't flying instruments, were you? No, we never flew instruments.

Fran Derocher 20:28

Um uh things that modernize a little bit. There's some of our programs that do uh fly instruments now. Um back, but our first assignment, there was there really was no equipment on the ground that would allow it to fly instrument. Yeah. I guess the airport we flew into had a beautiful VOR, which is, you know, a piece of equipment that you can track with an airplane, but it just wasn't plugged in. So that was unfortunate.

Larry Zilliox 20:53

I guess if you don't have electrical power, it's not gonna do you any good. Oh my goodness. Um yeah. What was there were there any f any assignments or anywhere you were flying that was pretty sketchy? I mean, you know, gosh. You know, there there's there's a lot of conflict over in Africa, and there always has been for quite some time. What was what's your memory of probably the sketchiest uh assignment you had?

Fran Derocher 21:25

Oh man, they're yeah, now I now you're getting into some more interesting things. I think for me, the mo the sketchiest um was East Congo. I was actually the the regional director living in Kenya, and I got a call from one of our families. They were at a base by themselves, um, and things things had just fallen apart. And um the pilot had taken off, his wife and kids were left behind at the village, uh, airstrip, and um things really went bad. And he could not even go back and land because of the uh the unrest. So his family is stuck there, and so I leave Kenya, fly to Uganda. Next day I go into East Congo and Bunya, I meet uh the pilot, and uh we're waiting. Waiting to get permission to go into the village to pick up his family and to help out whatever boy we could. And the UN is there, by the way. Um, and they were they were not interested in going and helping, unfortunately. And so we got the okay to go in, and I remember landing and uh pulling up to the hangar, and on each corner of the hangar is like I'm gonna say a 12-year-old, but I'm sure it was more than that. And they got on a tripod, you know, machine guns, uh, crossfire type of thing, and there's guys everywhere with guns, and that's what we landed into, and it became uh that was probably my sketchiest. Thankfully, we got out, um, but there was no guarantee for sure.

Larry Zilliox 22:58

Yeah. Wow. Yeah, it's it's a crazy day at work. Yeah, just another Monday. I'll just well, let me ask you this question since uh the Congo certainly is on a lot of people's minds and with the Ebola outbreak over there. What was it like in 2014

Flying Medicine And Managing Risk

Larry Zilliox 23:20

when there was a a large, large Ebola outbreak? How did that impact what you guys were doing?

Fran Derocher 23:27

Yeah, I think that was was that in the west side? Um, I want to say in Kikuit was the the center of that one.

Larry Zilliox 23:34

Yes.

Fran Derocher 23:34

Uh yeah, MAF was definitely fully involved. Um and the protocols it it it they become very stringent, you know. The you can fly out, you can bring teams out, but then you know, the cleaning of the aircraft and just the the extra precaution that you take uh to to avoid spreading it. Um so that that was a that was quite an interesting time. Um and I think if I'm not mistaken, that the government would only allow MM to fly in and out of the hot zone um because they trusted us so much.

Larry Zilliox 24:09

And thinking about the situation as it is today, what do you what do you think how uh uh do you think the Congo is equipped to handle what's going on today?

Fran Derocher 24:21

Yeah, I I don't I it's such a good question. I I think depends on the part of Congo. Um in general, I think they're they're not equipped. Um the the medical uh care is is lacking in a number of places, a lot of places. Uh I know there's a local hospital that we uh used to have a base at that 10 people just came out of the hospital after having Ebola. So they've been able to do something that's correct. Um so I think there's some places that you can get some decent care. Uh and I know Samaritan's Purse has flown in, um, and they've done an amazing job to try to help uh stop the Ebola spread. So it's it's a massive challenge because you know, culturally, um, you know, things are spread bodily fluids, and you're burying people left, right, and center, and that's how things get spread quite rapidly.

Larry Zilliox 25:15

Yeah.

Fran Derocher 25:16

Trying to get that to stop is is the biggest challenge.

Larry Zilliox 25:19

Yeah, and culturally, these are people that wash and clean their dead for burial.

Fran Derocher 25:27

Um that's the biggest challenge.

Larry Zilliox 25:30

Yeah.

Fran Derocher 25:31

And that's the that's the problem because you know, you initially you don't know what you're dealing with, right? They think it's just an another sickness or another something. Um, and that's how it spreads so quickly.

Larry Zilliox 25:42

Yeah. Wow. Well, we'll we'll pray for them for sure. Tell us about uh Mission Aviation Fellowship and how our listeners can get involved. Well, first off, listeners, the webpage is maf.org. M-Af.org. And uh you're gonna see a donate button there, right up in the right hand corner where uh you find most nonprofits have their donate button. Bang on it, donate. They need help, uh, because they're they're out there bringing just what must seem like unbelievable uh what what they bring to people uh that have sometimes little or nothing in the in the form of of not only religion but um food, medicine, supplies, just this is an organization that is worth supporting for sure. But how how big is it? What do what do you guys focus on the most these days?

Fran Derocher 26:44

The you know the mission of MAF really hasn't changed a lot because the places we we fly, we work is is is really the end of the line kind of places. Um I think uh the stats that we have this the aircraft have flown

Ebola Response And Congo Realities

Fran Derocher 27:00

over a million miles uh last year. Um so it's it's it's a lot of work that's going on, and it tends to be pretty much the same kind of things. It's medical related, church related, mission related. And you're right, there's um sometimes there's Bible translations that get completed, and that's quite an amazing event when you fly out of cases of Bibles to people who have never seen the Bible in their own language. Um, so that's quite amazing, but it's it's those kind of works that we do, and um, you know, how do you get involved? I mean, we're we're always looking for folks that have been led by the Lord to say, hey, this I want to use my gifts in this this way, and you have to come with your you know, commercial instrument, uh ticket already. I mean, I just found out yesterday one of the guys that's here with his wife, they're having they're having their third baby, I think. Um he was a former C 130 driver. Um that was interesting, didn't realize that. And uh one of the VPs here is uh he flew uh fighters in the Air Force.

Larry Zilliox 28:02

Wow.

Fran Derocher 28:02

And so we got we got a quite a mixed bag of people that come through. And um, you know, if someone feels that that's something they want to do, that's wonderful. We need mechanics, of course, and there's teachers we're always in looking for teachers and administrators, and there you can look on the website. There's it's a never-ending need, it's a challenging job, um, but it's very rewarding. Yeah, map.org, you can look at it and um yeah, come on, join us, come for us, give.

Larry Zilliox 28:34

How long how how long did you fly for them over in uh Africa?

Fran Derocher 28:40

Um my wife, let's see. I'm trying to think how many years. We were like 23 years in Africa. I shifted out of uh everyday flying because I went into management. So I would say probably 14 of that was flying, and then uh the rest was more on the uh administrative management uh side of life.

Larry Zilliox 29:01

Oh well, God bless you. And listeners, look, if you fly and you want to find a way to give back, and this is your calling, uh, you want to go to the webpage and check it out, maf.org. This is a great way to put your skills to work helping people. You know, I there's no way that this work isn't incredibly rewarding. So think about that when you have your you're separating from the Air Force or the the whatever flies. Everybody flies, every branch flies something, and maybe this is for you. You know,

How To Support And Join MAF

Larry Zilliox 29:39

you don't have to do it forever like Fran. You can do it for a while. Um you know, I'm sure they don't uh it's not like Hotel California. Uh listen, uh this uh this is a great, a great way to give that. Listen, if you if you don't fly, you know, if your version of flying is sitting in the back of the plane, like in first class, hit the donate button. You know, give what you can. I'm sure they need money for parts, they need money for fuel, they need money to feed people, they need money to buy new planes. Um, I mean, you can only fly these things for, I don't know, 30 years or so before they just fall out the sky. So uh, you know, give what you can and uh think about maybe there's other ways that you can uh you can donate your time and your your expertise. Well, listen, Fran, I can't thank you enough for coming on and uh and talking about you know life after military service and and uh what it meant to you uh and and to the people of Africa. You're you're you were a gift. You you and uh Lori were a gift to that uh that continent, actually. So thank you so much. Can't can't uh I can't believe that uh it's been 47 years.

Fran Derocher 31:08

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Uh you know, they say time flies faster as you get older. I think it's uh it it's warp speed now. Yeah. Um the the road before us is a lot shorter than the road behind us.

Larry Zilliox 31:20

Yep. Yeah, well, we'll all be home sometime soon.

Fran Derocher 31:23

Yeah, no, we're we're thankful. It's been a incredible privilege. One of the things in the, you know, the last thing just thinking about is you know, as you look back on your life, the the theme that really has been popping into my head is just privilege. Um, the Lord has given us such a tremendous gift to be able to serve in this way. It's unique, it's different, but uh somehow he picked a couple boneheads from the UP of Michigan, and here we are.

Larry Zilliox 31:47

Well, well, we're glad uh we're glad he did. Um yeah, thanks so much for joining us. Yeah.

Fran Derocher 31:54

Well, thank you so much for having me on. And uh yeah, it's been great to reconnect and have uh, you know, just a wonderful day over on the east side.

Larry Zilliox 32:04

Yeah, there you go. Well, listeners, we'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. You can find us on all the major podcast platforms. We're on YouTube and Reese Across America Radio. So until then, thanks for listening.