RETURN WITH HONOR
In the 1950’s, Robert D. Hales served in the United States Air Force as a captain and a member of the 308th Fighter Bomber Squadron. Each unit in the squadron had its motto to help inspire them in their efforts, and the motto of Robert’s unit was “Return with Honor.” Those words, written on the side of their F100 fighter jets, were there to help his unit remember their determination to successfully fulfill every part of their mission before they returned to their base.
​
Robert’s unit learned about many possible emergencies they could face and how to react while they trained in a flight simulator. They practiced over and over until their reactions to each situation came so naturally that they didn’t have to think about what they needed to do. They just did it.
​
Some men in Robert’s unit took their training very seriously, and a few found that the emergency procedures they had diligently practiced could save their lives. One young man in Robert’s unit learned this crucial lesson firsthand when his jet caught fire, and, fighting against the centrifugal force pulling against him, he was able to eject and save his life. But the other pilot, a friend of Robert’s, who was also in the burning jet, did not survive. He hadn’t taken his training as seriously as his co-pilot. He had skipped many of his sessions in the flight simulator and, unfortunately, didn’t learn the procedures he needed to escape. He paid for his unwillingness to receive instruction with his life.
Later in his life, Robert D. Hales became an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but he never forgot the motto of his old unit or the lessons he learned while in the Air Force. More than once, he used his experiences in the Air Force to teach valuable lessons about life.
​
“This same motto, ‘Return with honor,’ can be applied to each of us in our eternal plan of progression,” he said. “Having lived with our Heavenly Father and having come to earth life, we must have determination to return with honor to our heavenly home. How do we return to our Heavenly Father with honor? Just as aircraft pilots must obey certain rules to avoid disaster, there are laws, ordinances, and covenants we must understand and keep as we go through earthly life if we are to reach our goal of eternal life. As important as it is for an airman to develop an automatic response to warning indicators on the instrument panel, it is even more important for us to learn emergency procedures and develop preconditioned responses to the warning lights that go off in our personal lives. Many a pilot has crashed because of faulty calculations or failure to accurately read flight instruments. If we refuse to pay attention or deliberately ignore the warnings we receive from the Holy Ghost, we will wander off course and may crash before reaching our goal of returning with honor.”
​
When we choose to live by the rules, laws, ordinances, and covenants given to us by Jesus Christ, we are protected from the dangers we meet in this life, and we show our Savior we love Him and are grateful for the sacrifice he has made for us.
​
These images were inspired by Elder Hales’ talk The Aaronic Priesthood: Return with Honor given in April of 1990 and an article he wrote for the Ensign titled Return with Honor in November 2001.
​
If you would like to read more, you are invited to follow this link.