Split Infinitives

October 25, 2011

"Ed Fennessey told me that he had been unconscious before the plane went into a spin and came to with his parachute caught up in a tree and his feet off the ground. His call for help was heard by George Solsbery who lifted him out of his harness and down to earth. The Pilot, Radio Operator, and Flight Engineer got out without a scratch. They all bailed out through the bomb bay open doors before the plane went into a spin. Ed Fennessey showed me his leg that must have had a 20-millimeter cannon round explode on his calf muscle. The whole muscle was hanging down attached only at the lower end. He asked me if I thought it could be saved and I thought it might but told him to be prepared to lose his leg. For some reason the crew considered me the nearest thing to a doctor on board the plane, based, I guess, on my First Aid class scores. In an hour or so an elderly doctor came into the room. The temperature in the room was the same as outside so someone started a fire in a Dutch oven type heater but it gave off very little heat while we were there. The doctor looked at Ed’s leg and bound it up. Judging by his face he didn’t think the leg could be saved. I was sitting on a small straight backed chair and felt fairly secure and relaxed when I realized I was starting to faint. So as not to fall on the floor I slid down in the chair and hooked the back of my head over the top of the chair just as I went unconscious. How long I was unconscious I didn’t know, probably only a few minutes. When I woke up everybody was in their same positions, no one had made a move to check on me or attempt to stop me from falling off the chair. I had gone into shock; the killer of many wounded. After examining Ed Fennessey, who was far and away the most seriously wounded, the doctor looked at my knee and wrist wounds but said nothing."

— I found this story about my Grandfather, a waist gunner during World War II, and the plane crash he didn’t like to talk about. The Internet is surreal.

1:38pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZVHLbyB62xGg

(Notes: 28)