Former Hays man was pope's co-pilot
By RYAN CHRISTNER
Nelson Krueger doesn't profess to be a Catholic.
Nevertheless, it is a trip -- taken 30 years ago this month -- spent in the presence of the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church that has left an indelible mark on the life of the former Hays resident and Fort Hays State University graduate who now lives in Lawrence.
In late September 1979, Krueger was preparing for a different journey. As a pilot for Trans World Airlines, he was waiting to guide a routine flight from St. Louis to New York City.
Then came a call with new orders, a call most people likely would assume to be either an imaginative joke or simple slip of the tongue.
"I actually was overwhelmed," Krueger, who is now 62, said of his reaction upon hearing he had been selected as co-pilot of the flight crew that would transport Pope John Paul II and his entourage of clergymen during his first visit to the United States.
"I thought, 'You've got to be kidding.' "
Krueger recalls with pride his first encounter with the pope.
It was a Monday in Boston, roughly one year after John Paul II assumed his role as head of the Catholic Church, a steady rain dampening everything but the spirits of those waiting anxiously for the chance to see their spiritual leader in person.
After participating in a Mass and taking time to greet the crowd, despite the disagreeable weather conditions, the pope boarded his plane, appropriately monikered Shepherd One.
"The pope came into the cockpit just as soon as he got onto the airplane and put his arms around me and gave me a big hug, which I'll always remember," said Krueger, who now lobbies for PAR Electrical Contractors.
The rain, he said, had sufficiently moistened the cape draped around the pope's neck. Attempting to help the pope look his best before his speech later that day at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, he suggested the cape be suspended by a hanger in front of a vent in the cockpit.
It was a simple gesture and a brief moment of personal interaction, but Krueger said the pope responded with another appreciative embrace.
During the next few days, they crisscrossed the country, stopping in Washington, Chicago and Iowa, at the Living History Farms museum near Des Moines.
Three days after the pope's arrival in Boston, the poor weather had followed them on their excursion to the Hawkeye State. The crowd, huddled together in the bitter winds, totaled in the hundreds of thousands.
"It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen," Krueger said. "People just cheer. I mean, it's a concussion. You can feel the noise in your skin.
"He just represents hope. How anybody can do that was just more than I can figure out."
It was like nothing he had experienced in his 11 years prior to the trip or his continued flight experience afterward. Krueger, now retired from TWA, performs flight instruction at the Lawrence Municipal Airport.
He and the pope did not share extensive personal time together, but he said John Paul II did take time to visit the cockpit four times during his stay.
As the second-longest serving pope, John Paul II is widely recognized as one of the most influential leaders of the last century. Despite their limited interaction, Krueger said the pope had a natural aura of kindness and love.
"He has the most beautiful blue eyes that I've ever seen that just kind of communicate with you," he said. "He's somebody that would help you, you can tell that from his eyes, and he's somebody who would be accepting of your assistance if he needed any."
Krueger recalled attending a Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in New York City, where the pope was to speak.
Holding one of the large lights illuminating the site was a young priest, whose proximity to the heat of the bulb was causing him to sweat profusely.
As he was leaving, Krueger said, the pope stepped off the red carpet that had been laid out for him -- as much a security border as a regal welcoming decoration -- and approached the priest.
"The pope came about 10 paces off of the red carpet and very slowly went over to this guy and wiped this young priest's face," he said. "I thought, you know, there's a guy that will tend to a human need. A hundred of us saw that, and we didn't take care of it, but he did."
Thirty years later, those details still are fresh in Krueger's mind. At the time, he said, he didn't have time to think about the possible historical significance of what was occurring around him. But, after a couple decades of reflection, he's finally able to appreciate the very special opportunity that was provided to him.
"I think I'm just now realizing what we had done and who we had on board and what he represents," he said. "It was just the privilege of an aviation career."