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Show Family Weekly March Her 3 O- 6, mo i was shot down airman-husban- d 18 months ago aver Russia and never heard from since; - now, as Mr. Eisenhower prepares to visit the U.S.S.R., she pleads: Help lie Get . Husband Rfly By MRS. JAMES E. FERGUSON, JR. as told to Mary Pankowski March, 1958, when he arranged for us to join him husband is an American airman, missing in Myaction. He was shot down by the Russians Sept lvrseasZWO! village not far from Frankfurt and lived pretty 2, 1958. No word has ever been received from him. much like any-othI don't know where he is, or if he is even alive. couple except Jim's job was For more than a year, I have known only the flying over the most dangerous air routes in Europe. On Sept 2 that year, I was alone with my little agony of waiting. Even hope has been denied me in recent months. But maybe I have reason now girl , waiting for Jim to return from a routine flight to hope again. In June, President Eisenhower will 'to Turkey. In the afternoon, I was putting on water for some tea when a blue Air force car pulled up visit Russia. It's a remote hope, but possibly he in front .of our house. Another followed. Two offwill be able to learn what the Russians did with r icers, grim and silent came up to our door. My heart my husband. I must not hope too much, though; When Preskipped, I recall, but I convinced myself this was mier Khrushchev visited Washington last year, the nothing to worry about. of One of the officers was Captain Tarbucks, Jim's President personally inquired about the fate Jim and f our of his crew also "missing. The President commanding officer. The other was mtroduceoTasT " later wrote me: Major Swanson from the air base at Frankfurt "I have some news for you," the major said softly, 'To my deep regret Mr. Khrushchev's reply has and I knew this was the!" news every flier's wife failed once again to provide any new information; dreads. "Why don't you. Stl down?" In spite of this I assure, you that the govern"What's happened to Jim?" I insisted. ment of the United States will continue to do everyof They had little information. Jim had beenaboard thing' that can be. done to determine the fate an unarmedamportjreturningioi AdanaTurkey those missing menr' to Per is reason still The plane and its 11 crew members were missing. there hope. Perhaps, then, haps in June something will happen to end my . Beyond that they knew nothing. When any further let me know. news came in, agonized waiting. 10 minutes. about : It is not easy to be neither wife nor widow. I They gaye me a They stayed Debbie-Anld have two. children to raise phone number to call and asked if I had enough and Keith, who! was born after money. They asked if there was anything they could the remote near vanished do for me. Then they left a in his father region Russian-Turki- sh border. What faces us in this world we live in? How will endless waitminutes, I sat stunned and helpless. he suddenly I grabbed, my littlegirland-ran-o- ut ing affect us? Howwill itaf feet Jim when the door into the narrow street stumbling on the returns? And what if he doesn't, return? I do not think I am presumptuous to hope that rough pavement Joyce, a neighbor girl of my own the world leaders will consider how important these age, called to me, and I ran to her. Still clutching children. and woman to her They Debbie, I gasped out the horrible news. questions are one fill our not summit are questions; yet they great Joyce helped me back to my house, and, some- ' lives. At least I must hope that Mr. Khrushchev and how, I finished making the tea. An hour later, I had Mr. Eisenhower willtake time from complex quesgained control of myself and accepted the news. ones. to to answer tions try After all, Jim was only "missing." There was hope.' my simple Jim's and mjrstory began on a happier note in' He would come back to us, I was sure. ' . We had just finished dinner with Joyce that night Avhen Sergeant BuTgeTdinrd "You've got to come to the base, Rita," he said, "Its no good for you to be out here alone." I didn't want to go. The house held all that Jim and I had bviilt together. "I'll be okay," I said. . "There's more to it than you," he replied. ".You're five months pregnant Suppose the baby came early? There's Debbie to think about too- You'll be better off at the base, and when any news comes you'll get it faster. I protested that I didn't know anyone at the base. How could. I move in with strangers? "It's all arranged," he said. "You're to stay at er - j - ' ... ld they-wou- one-year-- n -- old in-betw- een -- . Family Weekly, March 6.1960 ,. - erJor-her'elsewhere - three-year-o- ' .. Sergeant Kresge's." yy with Jim. ball team was the on Sergeant Kresge I had met him a few times. I had "never met his wife. I looked at Deborah. Without understanding what had happened, she had sensed this alien feeling that had come into her home. It would be bet- -. "IH go," I said. I gathered up the few things we would need for the night. The sergeant said we could come out the next day to get anything else we needed. Margaret Kresge welcomed us as if she had known us all her life.An only child, sheiradTiever been around babies very much. Stanley, their son, was four months old and teething. We talked babies. Wefed babies-Wewasbabiesrtkept as busys hed -- IcoxddrAndr waited. For 10 days there Was no news. Then, on Saturday morning, as I was dressing Debbie, Captain Tarbucks came to the house with a medical officer. They said Russia had found the plane and reported alLaboard dead. Still holding Debbie, I walked into the bedroom and collapsed on the bed. I had never let myself cry before now I couldn't stop. There was no nope after all. My husband was dead, ' - . |