About a dozen generals arrived at the hospital from Manchuria;
immediately they wanted to know how I got Judy to the West Coast, when
they couldn't even get commercial travel. I had to let them guess.
Actually, Vivian's sister, Vera, was the girl friend of Col. Dudley
Fay, the Chief of Army Air Transportation, and he had a son who had
been a prisoner of the Germans. He was sympathetic and repeatedly told
Vivian and Judy, "When your husbands, John and Gene, are liberated,
I'm going to see that you girls get a ride to the West Coast." So
Vivian and Judy arrived at Hamilton Field on time, but actually
without any official orders. Of course, I couldn't tell the generals
that; they would have court-martialed me.
Sept. 15, 45: "Pappy Boynton" and his men arrived at the St. Francis.
I thanked God for that fearless aviator who had been awarded the Medal
of Honor.
We were now getting daily calls from Colonels Dudley Fay and Larry
Smith in Washington, wanting to make arrangements to fly us to Walter
Reed Army Hospital. Our answers were always "NO!" Now we were in no
hurry! "We'll come by slow train with stops in Lincoln, Nebraska, and
River Forest, Illinois, to see our families.
Pages:
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182