In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II

Epilogue

207 Jim฀Davis฀likes฀to฀claim฀he฀is฀just฀an฀ordinary฀man.฀He฀grew฀up฀ near฀Abilene,฀Texas,฀on฀a฀small฀ranch฀and฀endured฀the฀trying฀days฀of฀ the฀Great฀Depression.฀He฀helped฀his฀family฀scrape฀by฀in฀the฀1930s฀and฀ was฀able฀to฀graduate฀from฀Abilene฀High฀School฀in฀1940.฀After฀the฀war,฀ the฀Air฀Force฀required฀him฀to฀stay฀in฀the฀reserves฀until฀1962฀because฀of฀ his฀qualifications฀as฀a฀B-29฀commander,฀but฀beyond฀his฀limited฀annual฀ training฀commitment,฀he฀was฀able฀to฀return฀to฀civilian฀life.฀He฀tried฀his฀ hand฀at฀farming฀and฀ranching฀for฀a฀few฀years฀before฀beginning฀work฀ at฀Central฀Texas฀Iron฀Works,฀a฀steel฀fabricator,฀in฀Abilene฀in฀1948.฀The฀ company฀produced฀frame฀work฀for฀buildings,฀built฀street฀sweepers,฀ and฀constructed฀athletic฀stadiums.฀In฀1958฀the฀company฀decided฀to฀ build฀a฀plant฀in฀Midland,฀Texas,฀and฀asked฀Jim฀if฀he฀would฀manage฀ it.฀After฀careful฀thought,฀Jim฀and฀Jean฀made฀the฀difficult฀decision฀to฀ leave฀Jim’s฀hometown฀and฀accept฀the฀position.฀He฀managed฀the฀plant฀ in฀Midland฀until฀he฀retired฀in฀1984.฀Jean฀worked฀part฀time฀for฀a฀local฀ businessman฀and฀rancher฀until฀she฀retired฀in฀2001. Jim฀and฀Jean฀have฀lived฀a฀very฀active฀life,฀first฀in฀Abilene฀and฀ then฀in฀Midland.฀They฀had฀one฀daughter฀while฀in฀Abilene฀and฀now฀ have฀two฀grandchildren.฀Jim฀remains฀very฀active฀in฀the฀Second฀Air฀ Division฀Association฀and฀with฀the฀Commemorative฀Air฀Force.1 ฀Jim฀ Epilogue by฀David฀L.฀Snead 1 ฀ The฀ Commemorative฀ Air฀ Force฀ is฀ a฀ wonderful฀ organization฀ in฀ Midland,฀ Texas,฀that฀exists฀to฀preserve฀aircraft฀from฀World฀War฀II.฀In฀addition,฀it฀maintains฀ 208฀ In฀Hostile฀Skies and฀Jean฀have฀also฀traveled฀extensively฀in฀their฀retirement.฀They฀ have฀ visited฀ Japan,฀ China,฀ Australia,฀ New฀ Zealand,฀ Tahiti,฀ all฀ the฀ Baltic฀ countries,฀ and฀ Russia.฀ They฀ have฀ also฀ traveled฀ to฀ Alaska,฀ Canada,฀ Europe,฀ and฀ Mexico.฀ However,฀ their฀ favorite฀ destination฀ remains฀Hawaii. As฀often฀as฀Jim฀likes฀to฀say฀how฀ordinary฀he฀is,฀I฀reflect฀on฀his฀ experiences฀in฀World฀War฀II฀and฀realize฀just฀the฀opposite.฀Jim,฀along฀ with฀all฀of฀those฀men฀and฀women฀who฀served฀in฀the฀trying฀times฀ of฀World฀War฀II,฀represents฀something฀special.฀While฀he฀was฀and฀ remains฀small฀in฀stature,฀he฀has฀lived฀a฀full฀life.฀To฀this฀day,฀he฀does฀ not฀completely฀understand฀why฀he฀survived฀the฀war฀and฀many฀others ฀did฀not—a฀common฀question฀for฀most฀veterans.฀However,฀it฀is฀ clear฀that฀his฀determination,฀skill,฀and฀bravery฀had฀a฀lot฀to฀do฀with฀ it.฀Jim฀persevered฀through฀extensive฀training฀that฀forced฀some฀very฀ qualified฀men฀to฀fall฀to฀the฀wayside.฀He฀willingly฀flew฀into฀clouds฀of฀ flak฀on฀numerous฀occasions฀to฀complete฀his฀missions฀knowing฀that฀ being฀shot฀down,฀captured,฀injured,฀or฀killed฀were฀distinct฀possibilities .฀Although฀maybe฀not฀unique฀among฀World฀War฀II฀veterans,฀Jim฀ still฀deserves฀his฀country’s฀full฀admiration.2 While฀determination,฀bravery,฀and฀skill฀without฀question฀helped฀ Jim฀survive,฀he฀will฀be฀the฀first฀to฀tell฀you฀that฀many฀good฀men฀sharing ฀similar฀traits฀did฀not฀survive.฀This฀is฀the฀mystery฀of฀war—why฀ do฀some฀men฀live฀and฀some฀die?฀Jim฀has฀told฀me฀frequently฀that฀ luck฀and฀from฀his฀perspective,฀divine฀intervention,฀must฀be฀considered .฀Several฀times฀shrapnel฀came฀within฀inches฀of฀killing฀him,฀yet฀ he฀survived฀virtually฀unharmed.฀On฀the฀other฀hand,฀Paul฀Redden,฀ a฀gunner฀on฀the฀plane฀flying฀next฀to฀Jim฀on฀his฀first฀mission,฀died฀ in฀a฀most฀horrific฀fashion.฀Unfortunately,฀this฀riddle฀has฀no฀definite฀ answer.฀However,฀Jim฀believes,฀at฀least฀in฀his฀case,฀there฀may฀have฀ been฀a฀reason. an฀ excellent฀ museum,฀ the฀ American฀ Airpower฀ Heritage฀ Museum.฀ Its฀ website฀ is฀ http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/index.shtml,฀ accessed฀ on฀ July฀ 5,฀ 2005. 2 ฀For฀an฀excellent฀tribute฀to฀the฀World฀War฀II฀generation,฀see฀Tom฀Brokaw,฀The฀ Greatest฀Generation฀(New฀York:฀Random฀House,฀1998). Epilogue฀ 209 ฀Jim฀once฀told฀me฀a฀story฀about฀how฀he฀had฀almost฀died฀while฀a฀ child.฀For฀weeks฀he฀suffered฀from฀a฀high฀fever,฀and฀his฀family’s฀doctor ฀told฀his฀parents฀that฀he฀probably฀would฀not฀live฀for฀more฀than฀ a฀few฀days.฀In฀the฀depths฀of฀despair฀as฀neighbors฀came฀to฀comfort฀ his฀family,฀his฀mother฀left฀for฀about฀twenty฀minutes.฀After฀she฀returned ,฀the฀family฀asked฀her฀where฀she฀had฀been,฀and฀with฀a฀smile฀ on฀her฀face,฀she฀said฀she฀had฀been฀out฀behind฀the฀hen฀house...