You never know when an action from your past may catch up to you and remind you of what you once did in your previous life.
Take, for instance, my attendance last week at a Veterans Ceremony in Plymouth Township, which borders my hometown of Conshohocken, PA. They honored veterans who served in the municipality by placing their names in a brochure while a full-fledged US Navy Captain spoke at a memorial.
I approached the officer, Captain John S. Han, and told him of my visit to Korea, where he and his family had emigrated from in the early 1970s. Someone snapped the above picture, and he then looked a little closer at me and asked, “Don’t I know you?”
“I don’t know,” I said, reminding him that I had served in the US Army as Airborne and never in the Navy, but had grown up and once worked in Philadelphia.
That’s when he shocked me by telling me he served as a prosecutor in Philadelphia and was my opponent in court when I tried my one and only jury trial “in absentia.” That means the defendant had flown the coop, so to speak, and the judge, one of my favorite jurists named James Lineberger, kind of declared my client AWOL (Away With Out Leave). That judge – another veteran – had once received a battlefield commission while serving in the Korean War. I felt like I was kinda back in the so-called trenches while suffering through that trial, only to lose a case that we public defender attorneys called a “dead-dog loser.“
Captain Han reminded me that the defendant eventually got a 15-year sentence from Judge Anthony DeFino for a vicious crime considered to be a home invasion of a South Philadelphia man’s home, where he beat a senior citizen. I told Han that I believed he should have gotten a stiffer sentence.
But what a coincidence. Getting credit for time served some 20 years earlier by a fellow veteran and a battle-hardened courtroom attorney. What a happy Veterans Day recall!
(Shortly after writing this, I learned that Captain Han was appointed to the transition team of the new mayor of Philadelphia!)
Contoveros 
Terrific
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Had a lot of fun reflecting upon this encounter and realized that many of these “synchronistic” encounters are not mere coincidences but actual gifts from the Cosmos!
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This is fantastic Mike I’m happy for you 🤗 it’s a honor to know you and share grandchildren together
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Cool. Thanks for the message. The grandkids are really grand and keep me smiling a lot. The also love their “Mom Mom!”
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The following comments were exchanged on Facebook:
Cindy King-Webb
What an interesting story! There are no coincidences. But you know that already.
Michael J Contos
“Synchronicity” my dear, Cindy, synchronicity is what my favorite psychologist, Carl G Jung, called what others saw as only coincidences. He also noted that there are powers at work that the Cosmos are sending our way if we but take a moment to look at them from within.
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Mingo Stroeber
What a wonderful story!
Michael J Contos
Mingo, the trials, and tribulations of a Philly Public Defender ain’t all that bad!
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Christina Bradley
Wow Michael J Contos. Yes, we did have a past life. One of my former clients will officially discharge from the military on 11/30, which he spent much as an air traffic controller…He found me on fb in 2021 and wrote to say Thank you. I loved the work we did.
Michael J Contos
That’s a helluva story for the past, the present and the future.
We were just doing our duty is what some people would say. And, we were having fun creating so much compassion for our fellow inhabitants of this earthly plane.
Oops, got a little too philosophical there, but you know exactly what it means from working at the Defender Association of Philadelphia!
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Kathleen McPeake Gilliano
Congrats Mike
Michael J Contos
Thanks. I felt like I walked down a memory lane of sorts when the captain said he knew me from a previous life’s work and still had an initial relationship as veterans. We could probably do the same thing in recalling our growing up in Brewerytown and Fairmount.
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Bill Benedict
Congratulations Mike
Michael J Contos
Lots of fun went into this meeting and the history we shared in the courtroom in the Criminal Justice Center of Philadelphia.
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Michelle Seidner
Proud to say I know you both!
Michael J Contos
I’ll give you credit Michelle for credit is actually due you for getting to know both of us over the years!
Michelle Seidner
Michael J Contos you might be surprised… some of my favorite people were PDs!
Michael J Contos
Gosh, I bet you say that all the young PD‘s. Oops, I mean slightly older PDs!
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Kathy Gillen Stradling
Congratulations!!!
Michael J Contos
Kathy Gillen Stradling
Good to hear from you Kathy. My son Nick and I both send our fondest regards!
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Joe Irwin
Congratulations, Michael. Thanks for your service.
Michael J Contos
Thanks Joe. You just never know when something that makes you so grateful and full of joyful wonder arises out of thin air.
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Terri Kiral
What a wonderful moment to add to your plethora of memories and experiences, Michael.
Michael J Contos
Isn’t it great to be a writer of sorts and to share these moments with others?
I hope I can continue in my next incarnation and keep on writing with persons like you more and more!
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I love when things like this happen! Great pic of you and Captain Han!
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Happenings like this are very rare in our lives and we should share them with others. I am sure you would write about it like I did and cherish the memories such an encounter like this generates!
Talk with you later . . .
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Awesomeness 😎
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Thanks. I couldn’t believe it when it was happening but will cherish this as one of my greatest Veterans Day recall of Courtroom flashbacks!
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Yessss!!! Amazing moments in life!
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