Fact Checking Nelson's "Doors Of Death" light aircraft near death experience

[Gabriel]

I don't know whether he publicly mentioned the incident prior to March 31, 1985. Would someone check his 1979 book, From Heart to Heart, for mention of it?

Thanks for your patience, Tom!

I knew I forgot something. Oh yeah, this morning I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

No. That wasn't it. What was it? Oh yeah! It was this thing that came in the mail.

79f3e5c34e1faea9488dc3aea6e99463.jpg (185.32 KiB) Viewed 1548 times

Whoops! My bad. That's our doormat.

Rather, it was this:

allien.jpg (70.4 KiB) Viewed 1548 times

Let's see what Young Russell has to say in his autobiography, From Heart to Heart
From the Preface on page ix:

The original motivation to write this review seemed to spring simultaneously from my dear wife, Dantzel, and from President Spencer W. Kimball. Then a plea from President B. Lloyd Poelman provided additional prompting. Unifocal direction from three I loved so much could not be ignored. The final nudge came as I was a passenger in a small airplane plummeting earthward with one of its two engines exploded. I realized then that although both the spiritual and material needs for my family had been provided, I had not left for them a reasonable recapitulation of my life that they could review. The safe emergency landing of that disabled aircraft provided me with the chance I needed.

From "Annual Highlights (1960 - 1978)" on page 305:

To assist in documenting events of significance that have happened to me, to Dantzel, and to the children, annual highlights will be listed in this section. Of course, many important events occurred that won't be summarized here. For example, little will be mentioned about the major and minor operative procedures I have performed from 1955 to 1978, which now total more than six thousand.

Not included are a number of speeches at wards, at firesides, and at funerals, which became almost a matter of routine each week of the year. If there was any value in the comments I made, I am grateful, but I realize that the privilege of this kind of service is in the preparation and presentation of those remarks.

The daily work and the attendance at routine scientific meetings won't be recapitulated here either, but they are all recorded in my daily journals. I have attempted to summarize here only those things that are of significance in our lives as members of the family, plus a number of world events and Church-related incidents that have shaped the destiny of mankind. This section includes the years from 1960 to 1978; the highlights of the preceding years are all interwoven in the fabric of the preceding narrative.

In the world of medical science, it is expedient to summarize one's background in the form of "curriculum vitae" and a list of publications. Such data are also added to this record.

With deepest gratitude, I note that ever since I began to record in my journals, I have never missed a day of work because of illness. In addition, I remember never having missed a day of school except for a couple of days in grade school when I had chicken pos. I know I had perfect attendance in junior high and high school, at the university, and all through medical school. I can only be extremely thankful to my Father in heaven for giving me such a great blessing, for I have been in the midst of illness almost all that time. Moreover, my experiences on the front line of artillery action and under sniper fire by guerillas in Korea, in a crippled airplane with an exploded engine as it plummeted earthward, in the grip of thundering rapids on the relentless Colorado River, submerged while wearing high waders in the Snake River - all these episodes, any one of which could have ended fatally, combine to make my statement of gratitude to God for life, health, and strength a most sincere one.

From the bottom of page 376 to the top of 377, we get the money quote:

November 12 - Flew to St. George. When one of the small airplane's engines exploded, I expected to be killed. But after a precipitous dive in the disabled plane, the pilot made a safe emergency landing in Delta. I was going to St. George to give the opening prayer at the inaugural services at which Rolfe Kerr became president of Dixie College.

[Tom]

I don't know whether he publicly mentioned the incident prior to March 31, 1985. Would someone check his 1979 book, From Heart to Heart, for mention of it?

Thanks for your patience, Tom!

I knew I forgot something. Oh yeah, this morning I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

No. That wasn't it. What was it? Oh yeah! It was this thing that came in the mail.79f3e5c34e1faea9488dc3aea6e99463.jpg

Whoops! My bad. That's our doormat.

Rather, it was this:allien.jpg

Let's see what Young Russell has to say in his autobiography, From Heart to Heart
From the Preface on page ix:

The original motivation to write this review seemed to spring simultaneously from my dear wife, Dantzel, and from President Spencer W. Kimball. Then a plea from President B. Lloyd Poelman provided additional prompting. Unifocal direction from three I loved so much could not be ignored. The final nudge came as I was a passenger in a small airplane plummeting earthward with one of its two engines exploded. I realized then that although both the spiritual and material needs for my family had been provided, I had not left for them a reasonable recapitulation of my life that they could review. The safe emergency landing of that disabled aircraft provided me with the chance I needed.

From "Annual Highlights (1960 - 1978)" on page 305:

To assist in documenting events of significance that have happened to me, to Dantzel, and to the children, annual highlights will be listed in this section. Of course, many important events occurred that won't be summarized here. For example, little will be mentioned about the major and minor operative procedures I have performed from 1955 to 1978, which now total more than six thousand.

Not included are a number of speeches at wards, at firesides, and at funerals, which became almost a matter of routine each week of the year. If there was any value in the comments I made, I am grateful, but I realize that the privilege of this kind of service is in the preparation and presentation of those remarks.

The daily work and the attendance at routine scientific meetings won't be recapitulated here either, but they are all recorded in my daily journals. I have attempted to summarize here only those things that are of significance in our lives as members of the family, plus a number of world events and Church-related incidents that have shaped the destiny of mankind. This section includes the years from 1960 to 1978; the highlights of the preceding years are all interwoven in the fabric of the preceding narrative.

In the world of medical science, it is expedient to summarize one's background in the form of "curriculum vitae" and a list of publications. Such data are also added to this record.

With deepest gratitude, I note that ever since I began to record in my journals, I have never missed a day of work because of illness. In addition, I remember never having missed a day of school except for a couple of days in grade school when I had chicken pos. I know I had perfect attendance in junior high and high school, at the university, and all through medical school. I can only be extremely thankful to my Father in heaven for giving me such a great blessing, for I have been in the midst of illness almost all that time. Moreover, my experiences on the front line of artillery action and under sniper fire by guerillas in Korea, in a crippled airplane with an exploded engine as it plummeted earthward, in the grip of thundering rapids on the relentless Colorado River, submerged while wearing high waders in the Snake River - all these episodes, any one of which could have ended fatally, combine to make my statement of gratitude to God for life, health, and strength a most sincere one.

From the bottom of page 376 to the top of 377, we get the money quote:

November 12 - Flew to St. George. When one of the small airplane's engines exploded, I expected to be killed. But after a precipitous dive in the disabled plane, the pilot made a safe emergency landing in Delta. I was going to St. George to give the opening prayer at the inaugural services at which Rolfe Kerr became president of Dixie College.

Wow, thank you! (I hope you didn't have to mortgage your house to buy the book.) That's much more than I expected in the book.

Moreover, my experiences on the front line of artillery action and under sniper fire by guerillas in Korea, in a crippled airplane with an exploded engine as it plummeted earthward, in the grip of thundering rapids on the relentless Colorado River, submerged while wearing high waders in the Snake River

I'm not familiar with the Snake River incident.

[Res Ipsa]

Thanks Gabriel!

[Gabriel]

Wow, thank you! (I hope you didn't have to mortgage your house to buy the book.) That's much more than I expected in the book.

Moreover, my experiences on the front line of artillery action and under sniper fire by guerillas in Korea, in a crippled airplane with an exploded engine as it plummeted earthward, in the grip of thundering rapids on the relentless Colorado River, submerged while wearing high waders in the Snake River

I'm not familiar with the Snake River incident.

My eyes glaze over when it comes to anything to do with money. Fortunately, my wife does all the bills. I happened to see this book on eBay at the relative bargain-basement price of 769.00, with 15 people watching. As my lovely wife was snoring by my side, I decided against waking her up. After tossing and turning and humming and hawing, I relapsed back into the ethical code of my Army days where "it is better to ask for forgiveness than for permission", so I purchased it. My wife gets text messages every morning with our bank balance. I confess that I am surprised that she took it so well when I told her what I had done. Then again, we'll be married thirty years next month, I know her well enough by now to know that she holds to the proposition that "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

As for the Snake River incident, I might post something about it later.

Thanks Gabriel!

You're welcome. In fact, if you ever want to borrow it for research purposes, feel free to PM me.

[Moksha]

... submerged while wearing high waders in the Snake River...

I imagine he was pursuing a horse with an injured Hobbit strapped to its back when the river rose up and gobsmacked him. Nothing personal, just a spell from the riverbank by a concerned Elf.

[Moksha]

Could President Nelson have been overly exaggerative when he made those deviltry charges against the words Mormon and LDS?


Should FAIR have rebranded itself as FAIRTrumpery when it divested itself of Mormonism?

[kairos]

His alleged exposure to artillery and guerilla
Operations is almost surely a lie- he could though explain it away if while an Army doctor stationed at Walter Reed may have taken a trip to Korea as an observer of military medicine or to collect medical data. If true he may heard artillery fire from his hotel room in Seoul.
Has that incident been put forward by Russell M. Nelson?
Thanx
k

[Gabriel]

His alleged exposure to artillery and guerilla
Operations is almost surely a lie- he could though explain it away if while an Army doctor stationed at Walter Reed may have taken a trip to Korea as an observer of military medicine or to collect medical data. If true he may heard artillery fire from his hotel room in Seoul.
Has that incident been put forward by Russell M. Nelson?
Thanx
k

Although I agree with George Orwell that "All saints should be judged guilty until proven innocent", for the time being, I am going to give Russell the benefit of the doubt on this one. Russell's book is a little over 400 pages. It is tedious in places, and I haven't had the time to give it more than a cursory read. But I will try to get back to you within the next couple of months with a more qualified opinion, Kairos.

All I know is that, for a first time novel, it appears to be something of an outlier, perhaps even ancient, (but in this I will yield to the expertise of the good Dr. Rasmussen for the final word on this matter).

[Lem]

…All I know is that, for a first time novel, it appears to be something of an outlier, perhaps even ancient, (but in this I will yield to the expertise of the good Dr. Rasmussen for the final word on this matter).

[Tom]

Condie’s biography purports to quote from Heart’s discussion of Nelson’s time in Korea, citing pages 76-77.