‘I believe in the power of prayers’

“A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.”
-- Theodore Roosevelt

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- I have asked the Bank of America to investigate the mysterious activity in my ATM account I discovered in the month of July 2018.
If I wasn’t quick to call their attention, I would have been perpetually charged with “overdraft item fee” worth $35 each day for transactions I didn’t make.
The “damage” was already horrific when I accidentally discovered it Sunday midnight after arriving from Ledyard, Connecticut.
When I checked my balance in the ATM machine of the bank’s Flushing branch, I found out everything had been wiped out.
Penniless and confused, I panicked.
The bank’s Delaware office assured me July 31 they would do something to give justice to my account which has been victimized by unauthorized “transactions” since 2016.
I was assured by “Marvin” they would restore the missing amount once they finished their investigation soon.
For the meantime, they decided to freeze my account (this is the third time in three years) pending their investigation. No more ATM. Gee whiz.

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In my recent visit to Virginia and Marlyland, I met and was able to talk to retired US Air Force pilot, Col. Lester Marlon Romine, 90, contemporary of Arizona Senator John McCain.
He confirmed the colorful military exploits of the one-time Republican presidential candidate who lost to President Barack Obama in 2008.
Romine narrated that McCain was indeed captured and imprisoned on October 26, 1967 after his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile in Hanoi.
McCain, Romine said, was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam.
The now Arizona senator fractured both arms and a leg when he ejected from the aircraft, and nearly drowned after he parachuted into Truc Bạch Lake. Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him.
McCain was then transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".
Romine, meanwhile, warned that North Korea and China are now “flexing their muscles” exhorting the Americans and people all over the world “to stay at peace and continued to be guided by the Holy Scriptures.”

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“I believe in the power of prayers,” chortled Romine, who had 150 combat missions during the Vietnam War and in his entire 27 years of service.
Romine disclosed that he was able to read the Bible “cover to cover” 12 times in three years.
He believed that “faith in God and His words in the Holy Bible” will help save the world from any danger of a possible eruption of World War III
Romine was commissioned as a US Air Force officer in 1951.
As a boy growing up on an Alabama cotton farm, Romine dreamed of flying--a goal that seemed impossible in the midst of the Great Depression.
Ye there he was, learning first to fly propeller planes and then jets--and enduring survival training in Alaska.
He said the price of flight was service, and Romine paid without complaint.
His career took him across the world, from the deserts of Saudi Arabia to combat missions over the rice paddies and jungle of Vietnam.
Through it all, Romine’s faith and moral compass--forged during the poverty of his youth--provided guidance and strength.
“Come back and stay in my rest house for another round of interview,” concluded the retired colonel.