I met Joe in early 1967 and it was clear from the start that he was a giant man of the Spirit. The smile, the laugh, the “my-my-my” and the passion of the mission were so embodied that I knew I was honored to be with such a man on the Great March. The one specific story was when I was assigned to the Local Economic Development Team of the 232 Replication Campaign in Maharashtra. It was my assignment was to figure out how to triple the income of our chosen villages (that is another story and a great life lesson!), and I had never been in a Consult. It came time to meet the strategic objective of finishing the task of putting a demonstration village in the remainder of the 25 Districts, which would require everyone to be on a Consult team. It felt like it must have been when all the cooks had to grab their rifle and head to the front lines in WW II! So off I went to a village called Narayan Chinchole. I was the first to arrive and Cyprian was to arrive to lead it. I knew nothing! I helped Jim Patterson in the pre-work, but as the day was approaching I was panicked as to who was going to lead this! So I rushed to the telegraph office and sent Joe a telegram that called for HELP! I was so naive that I thought he would get it, but it arrived two weeks later. It was a painful Consult and it was clear to me and just about everyone else that we were way over our heads in so many of the Consults done that week. I thought there was going to be a mutiny when all returned and the reports we made. General Joe just stood there, like Patton, and received it all. No apology, just “let’s keep moving”! 

Now the “three Joe’s” are together, patiently waiting for the rest of the Blue Shirts to arrive so we can all walk into heaven together!

Thank you Joe!

Jack