Well, then…
My father began every
story with those words. He’d lean back
in the kitchen chair—that is where most stories were told—and tilted back the
John Deere cap.
Me and Sweetman
were on a long run over the China Hump…you know what that is, dontcha? Well, that is a flight over Burma and China
to Japan. We dropped bombs on towns
there. But... Well, then.
It took close to 24
hours to fly there and back. Had to fly
low over the waters, so low that we could see the white caps on the waves. I betcha we coulda reached out to grab some
sea water.
We flew so low to conserve
fuel. Plane was heavy. Man, it was heavy with the fuel tanks and the
artillery. Me and Sweetman were the bay
gunners. The closer we got to Japan, the
Japs would be buzzing around us like hornets.
Me and Sweetman would shoot at them, heavy guns and loud. Now and then, we’d say, “I got one…”
Well, then. This story is about a rule we had on the
bomber. The first one who had to pee
would have to clean the latrine. Nasty,
bad job.
Ol’ Gandy had to go
bad. The rest of us were pent-up about
the mission, we couldn’t have peed for nothing.
But Gundy had to go.
But the latrine? He decided he’d open the bomb bay doors just
a little and pee down them. Worked just
fine.
Then we heard the navigator Ol' Shelton say somethin’ like. “What’s
this? Yellow sea water?” He smacked his lips, wiped his face. “Tastes funny.”
We never told him
what that was. Don’t think he’da like it.
Top Row (rt. to lt.): Charles T. Rock, Charles H. Donalds, Ronald M. Gandy,
Louis E. Peck (my dad), John Sweetman
Middle Row: Capt.Willam O. Ezell (pilot), Lt. Hump Halsey (co-pilot), Arthur M Shelton, Merril Williams
Front: James. D. Waring, Robert Quick |
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Then Dad would stand up, straighten his cap, and go out to do chores.
Dad loved to tell stories, but only certain stories.
