We were
soon full, but had no where to hide the remainder so were forced to
eat the rest. It is no easy task to eat that much fruit cocktail and
we decided not to try that again. At the other bases there was no
form of entertainment and we had to go to the nearest city for
alcohol and movies. Finally at this base they put up two metal nissan
huts: one a bar, the other a theatre. I didn't use either one for
very long due to the following events.
On May 10, 1944 they opened the bar at 6 pm and Bruce and I ordered a
glass of Scotch and a beer each. After a couple of them we were
feeling good and decided to go to the movies in the other hut. Bruce
and I got to laughing so hard at the comedy that they threw us out of
the hut. We realized then that the movie hadn't started yet! We
staggered back to the tent and in the darkness Bruce tripped over
something and fell against the hot stove receiving a burn to the side
of his hand. I will mention here the value of the "Purple Heart"
medal because Bruce received one later for getting drunk and falling
on a hot stove and I received nothing for being burned when I bailed
out.
The next day, May 11, 1944, we were not scheduled for a mission...a
good thing because Bruce and I were in poor shape. Some of the other
pilots had been shipping their foot lockers home with all their extra
belongings. They would go to Fort Levenworth, Kansas and be kept
there until our return.
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