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Show " - GOD IS MY ' CO-PILOT CO PILOT COPILOT COPILOT'Col COPILOTCoy sI : - ! : ! 1 'Col Col ' Coy oJ . . ROb Robert- Robert RobertL.Scotf - L.ScoftWNU L.Scotf LScotf L.Scoft LScoft . WNU RELEASE J , 1 nr ne fhe sto story , . tI n tins as us far ( ar Alter After graduatingfrom Eraduatlnr graduatlag graduating " from West Point as a second IJeutenant lieutenant IJeutenantRobert lieutenantHobert lieutenantBotcrt 3 Robert Hobert Scott wins wJns his h ) wines wings at t Kelly KellyFIeld KellyField KeUyncid FIeld Texas and nd takes up pursuit flying flyingWhen flyingwhen flylneWhen When the war breaks out ho he Is an InItraetor Instructor In Itraetor structor tractor In California CaIJforuia and told ha he Is too tooold tooold tooold old for combat flylne flying He appeals toleveral toseveral to leveral several eTcr&I eTcrI & Generals Geaorals for a chance to fly a * acombat acombat I combat piano pl9JIe and finally cetl gets a break breakfie breadn Re fie < flies Wes ales a bomber to India where helIeeomes hebecomes he lIeeomes becomes ecornei a * terry ferry pilot plIot but this does not notappeal notappeal "ppeal ppeal appeal " to him blm Alter After visltinc visiting Gen Gea Chen ChenDault Chenaault ChenDaolt Dault aault he fcts gets a & Klttyha KIttyhairk Rlttybawk wk to fly and andloon andsoon andloon loon soon becomes beeomea a * " ' ' . one man air force forceRer forceover forcel forcelTcr Rer over Tcr Burma Later he Is made com coin commandlng coinmandtng cornliandinc mandlng mandtng oulcer officer of o < the 23rd FighterGroap FlghterGroup Fighter Flghter Fighter'Group 'Group Group Groap ' He Re tells about his friend Mai Mai"Tex lila Mil1 ' " "Tci Tci "Tex Tex " Hill Bill to whom wholD he be owe owes . his lifeCIIAPTER Ule We life UleII j Fighterj 1 1CIIArT II CIIArT CHAPTER CIIAPTER R YVDISo xvm YVDI xvmSo m So Johnny glided gIlded to the field with withs withchi withals chi s missing engine and then we webeard weheard weheard beard heard him say that he couldn t make makethe makethe makethe the field and was gomg going to sit down downin downln ! , in the river-The river The river * - ' The moon made Itlfalrly it itthat lfalrly 3 3fairly ! fairly bright but even at ttat tt at 1 I knew knewthat knewthat that Johnny had to be mighty good goodand goodI goodIand ) and very lucky Then I wondered wonderedwhether wonderedwhether wonderedwhether whether or not he v . was aas as wounded wounded.Silhouetted woundedSilhouetted . . Silhouetted against agamst the light from'I from from'bis ' 'I I 'Ithe ' downlbb the three bombers he had shot down downhis lbb 'bis bis his ' fighter looked looi.ed looied . awfully low He Herlklll1med He/tkimmed He tkimmed / over the Chinese Chmese junks on onthe onthe onth the river and I saw the splash asthe asthe as . the P40 P 40 4.0 . with Its wheels up hit Mt theSiang theSiang the theSlane Slane Siang Klang Kiang Down on the ground ground.they groundjthey .they they 'they heard his hil engine engme give one more moredying moredying more'dying moredying ' dying gasp as a * . with a surge of powerprobably powerprobably power probably -probably - from full gun and a * prop propdin din low pitch-it pitch it pitch - It lilted lifted him over the theIlast thelast theJast Ilast last of the masts of tho the Junkt junks and andalet andalet lId alet ! him level off to skid across thesurface tha the 6.urface 6urface : urface surface . of the riverWe river } We came in and landed now for forthe torthe ! ' ( the ground crew had gotten the ' " " .mudge mudge smudge . mudgepot pot boundary lights . let .et et set outato out outto ato to mark the runway as well as the thebomb thebomb theIbomb Ibomb bomb craters We gathered togeth together together er fast with the boys who had stayed stayedon stayedon stayedeon : eon on the ground and talked about the thelI'eat thegreat thegreat lI'eat lIeat great ' battle batUe I I remember Tex Hillsbaking Hillihaklng Hill _ shaking ihaklng sbaking his head and saying saymg I m mafraid mafraid mafraid afraid Johnny didn dldn t make It Doggone Dog Dogtone : , , tone gone one , , he was a good boys boy ? ' We all allfelt allfelt alltelt felt a sinking in our hearts Wewaited We Wewaited We"waited Wewaited -waited waited _ " - and we kind of prayed tooI too tooI I 1 tent sent Captain Wang our salvage salvageman salvageman salvageman man man , , out to tee see it if he could get any anynews anynews anynews news of Major Alison AIson ) . . We made our ourreports ourreports ourreports reports out and kept waiting waltmg on the thealert thealert thealert alert . . Just when we had really reallylIven reallygiven reallyiven lIven given ( up hope we heard beard the sound soundof soundof soundof of sharp explosions All of us ran ranout ranout ranout out of the alert shack to see the.trangest thestrangest the trangest .trangest strangest . sight that . we v.e ve ever sawWeven sawseven saw saweven Weven seven even in m chinaA China Chma ChinaA A procession had entered the field Held HeldyThe fieldThe yThe The Chinese Chmese sentry had passed the theitcrowd thexerowd thexcrowd itcrowd xerowd of people and was himself himselftholding himselfrholding himselfiholding tholding rholding his Ius thumb in the air all ' callingI calling callmg I " ' ' Ding Dmg hao-dmg hao dmg hao-ding ding hao - - ding hao In the mIdstOf midsttof midst midstot tof { ot Of the procession and surrounded bych by bytchildren tchildren ch children dren shooting shootmg Chinese Chmese firecrack flrecrack firecrackers flrecrackers flrecrackers ers in 111 celebration c'lebratlon clebratlon ! ' . , was a sedan chall chair chair'carried chaircarried ' chair'earned ' learned 'earned earned ' on the backs bac.s bacs ! . of the villagers ' of Hengyang And Johnny Alison AlisonI Alisonwas Alisonwas Alison.was Alisonwas I . was in the sedan chalr-sm chalr sm chair-smiling chair smiling chair - smilingjc mg ( < , , Johnny Alison had a couple of of'burns ofburns : [ 'burns burns ' ( burns on his Ius hands and legs where wherelome wheresome wherecome lome some bits of the Japs explosive bul bullets bullets bullets lets had hit him Ho He d been slighUy slightly slighUycut slightlycut slightlycut cut on the forehead when on land land.lng landFlag landting .lng lng Flag . m 111 the nfer nter river his Ius bead head had hit hitthe hitthe hitthe the heavy metal of the gun sight sightBut sightBut sightBut But the scar that . would v.ould vould leave would wouldlbe wouldibe lbe be a common one after the war for forevery forevery torevery every fighter pilot fl fi es along WIth WIthIus withbis withhis Ius bis bead head lust Just inches mches behind behmd that thathunk thathunk thatbunk hunk of steel that contains contams the lights lightsand lightsand lightsand and prisms pTisms of the modern gun gunlights gunsights gunrights lights sights Just the slightest aCCident aCCidentand accidentand accidentand and it Is out there to split your headlI head , lI I I asked Johnny why m in hell he hewent heteat hewent I went teat so 50 close to the bomber forma formatiOD formatim formation tiOD tim . . and he grinned grumed and said I Iwas Iwas Iwas was scared I d miss one of themy them y : Our salvage crew worked and andworked andworked andworked worked at the job of rais ralS ng the P-40 P 40 P40from P40from P-40from P 40from - - from the bottom ot of the Siang Slang Kiang KiangBut KiangBut KlangBut But with the fourteen toot foot depth and andthe andthe andthe the swift current , , , they had bad more morethan morethan more.than morethan . than modem modern engineering engmeermg with thelimitations the thelimltahons thelimitations limltahons limitations of our floating floatmg doatmg equipment equipmentcould equipmentcould equipmentcould could accomplish Under Captam Captain CaptamangCh1nese CaptainangChinese CaptainWang ang-Ch1nese ang Ch1nese ang-Chinese Chinese - Chinese American and in our ourmythey ourmythey ourArmy my-they my they - they floated barges out to toe toe tothe e spot and tried Vied tiled to tow It ashore ashoreith ashorenth ashorewith ith nth ! lines mes Then they lowered steel steelidrums steeldrums steeldrums idrums drums tied hed them to the ship shJp trIed trIedpump triedpump triedtto pump the water from the sub sub- suberged submerged - ' merged erged drums and thus float the40but the the4Obut theaMO -4O-but 4O but -40-but 40 - - - - but everything everythmg failed failedDurmg failedDuring failedy During Durmg all aU the work of the Amer Amercans Amercans Amerttcans cans with windlass wmdlass and block and andckle andckle andjtackle ckle the Chinese Chmese villagers v vho vhoad vhopad ho hoad ad offered their services long be before before beore fore ( smiled and stood by We asked askedourselves askedourselves askedourselves ourselves What In hell could the theChinese theChinese thehinese Chinese ; coolies coolles and rivermen do If d Ife de ifwe e with our general knowledge and anddvanced anddvanced andidvanced dvanced clv civilization lZahon couldn t raise raisee raisehe e ship ? We went on and failed failedr failedor [ r three days and then to the per perIstent peristent peristent Istent Chinese Chmese we said Okay go gohead gocad goihead head cad headWe cadWe ; We watched them float raft after afteraft afteraft afterraft aft of long thick trick bamboo poles to toe toe tohe e buoy that now marked the spot spothere spothere spotvhere here Johnny s fighter had sunk sunkentaUy sunkentally sunkMentally entaUy entally we set down the . ralsmg raising raisingsit ralsmgf raisingt f t the ship as impossible and got goteady goteady gotready eady to mark it off oU the list But Bute Buthe e Chinese went on cheerfully with withelr withheir withheir heir elr work . . . I saw them pull themaeves them them.eves themleves .eves eves aeves . do dovn vn into the river with withopes withopes withropes opes tied to the fighter taking WIth WIthem withem withJiem em an eighteen foot length of barn ham hamoo barnaoo 00 oo They would slide this under undere underthe e wing of the ship and lash It Into Intolace intolace Intoplace lace with grass rope Hundreds of ofas ofes oflimes as es they did this unt tint I 1 a perfect perfectat perfectmat at of bamboo was under the entire entirewmg entirewing entirewing wmg wing theylashed of o ( the th little IltUe P 40 Then they theyshed lashed shed the mat to the fuselage and andstarted andctarted andI I ' started another row under the WJng wing wuigThrough WJngThrough wingThrough Through it all we smiled at the wast wart wasted . . ed effort eUort and I heard men say Oh Ohwell Ohwell Ohwell well there are lots ol of Chinese My any Myway anyway anyway way Let them work work.p workp . . . : $ But aut ut toward the second da days day , . . close I began to wonder wondcr and that thatevenmg thatevening thatevenmg evenmg evening as darkness darkncss settled setUed over the therlvcr theriver theriver rlvcr river I went out to watch their t re reless reless reless less labor Suddenly there was a amovement amovement amovement reI I movement among the nvermen Tlvermen rivermen to totighten totighten totighten tighten the tour four cables that tied bed the thefighter thefighter thefighter fighter to the barge and I saw the thecanopy thecanopy thecanopy canopy and the prop of Johnny s sfighter sfighter sfighter fighter ship slup rise above the surface of o1 ofthe o1the ofthe the river Involuntarily I cheered cheerednnd cheeredand cheeredand nnd and I felt a lump in my throat as asif asif asIf if I had swallowed something somethmg as asI asI asI I tried to talk tal ! . to the officer with withme withme withme me I felt my Up lip tremble with emo emo- emobon emotion - . tion bon But the Chinese never cheered cheeredor , or got ercited eyclted excited they remained remamed as asI asstoIcal asstoical asstoical I stoIcal as ever They seemed to toknow toknow toknow know that they were going gomg to be suc successful successful suecessful cessful and had merely been walt wait waltIng waitIng waiting Ing for the crazy Americans Amencans to qult quit qultplaymg quitplaying quitplaying playmg playing around with WJth all the strarge strargegadgets strargegadgets strargegadgets strargegadgetsThey gadgets gadgetsThey They had floated the 9100 pounds poundsof of P 40 and now they towed It to toshore toshore toshore shore Our salvage crew put the thewheels thewheels thewheels wheels down in the water and With Withthe withthe withthe the aid of about a hundred coolies cooliesthe cooliesthe coobesthe the ship was pulled up the river riverbank riverbank riverbank bank and then out to the field We Wecounted Wecounted Wecounted counted eleven bullet holes through throughthe throughthe throughthe the engine engme and In the cockpit Next Nextday Nextday Nextday day the ground crews began the thework thework thework work of repair repall ' Days had to pass passbefore passbefore passbefore before an engine from another dam damaged damaged damaged aged fighter could be installed and andmore andmore andmore more tune bme time had to go by before beforewe beforewe beforewe we got It completely worked over overBut overBut overBut But in 111 the end it flew fiew again in com combat combat cornbat bat against agamst the Japam.se-thanks Japam.sethanks Japam.se Japamse thanks Japanese-thanks Japanese Japanese . - - thanks to tolabor tolabor tolabor labor of good mechanics mechamcs and the thethe thethe thethe the bravery of a gallant officer the theunswerving theunswerving theunswerving unswerving patience and devotion of ofthose ofthose ofthose those brave Chinese Chmese coolies and riv rivermen rivermen rivermen ermen who had never heard of the theword theword theword word impossibleWhen Impossible ImpossibleWhen When I first went to China Chma I thmk think thinkI thmkI I Imagined imagmed In my short stay that I Iwould Iwould Iwould would gradually change the simple simpleChmese simpleChinese simpleChinese Chmese Chinese I used to rant and rave raveabout raveabout raveabout about this and that that , , , and try to showA show A y yi | i , Fe F e 4 < sffy imuMwWW . " t- t tP A "w w - " .y1 y1 . ra ij ijr r P / " " P "wf < . S - f , a ,4ia . ' 74ltyC ' ,4i 4i , J 7 xv 7xv 9 \ My 1\ly 1 ly armament aimament sergeant and the thecrew thecrew thecrew crew chief of the fighter fighters " ' the houseboys better and more ef of officient efficlent efficient ficlent ficient ways to do things thmgs But they theynever theynever theynever never changed and finally I real realized realized realized ized that they were changing changmg me meNow meNow meNow Now in raising ralsmg this ship they had hadused hadused hadused used a method three thousand years yearsold yearsold yearsold old I have read since smce how they had hademployed hademployed hademployed employed it in m Burma long years yearsbefore yearsbefore yearsbefore before when the great temple ben bell benwelghmg bellweighing bellweighing welghmg weighing over thirty tons was wasthrown wasthrown wasthrown thrown into mto the deep lake to save It Itfrom itfrom itfrom from the heathen When the heath heathen heathen heathen en had occupied the land and had hadhimself hadhimself hadhimself himself been beaten in due tIme tImeprobably timeprobably timeprobably probably by the country and by time timeItself timeitself timeitself Itself they had come back to thelake the thelake thelake lake these Chinese Chmese and with barn bam barnboo bamboo barnboo boo poles had raised the thirty tons tonsof tonsof tonsof of metal metalDuring metalDurmg During Durmg my stay in China Chma I have havewatched havewatched havewatched watched the Chinese Chmese being bombed bombedand bombedand bombedand and have seen them go out and p ck cktheir cktheir cktheir their dead from among the ruins rums of oftheir oftheir oftheir their cities CltlC"S CltlCS " Then wait walt bravely for forthe forthe forthe the Jap to come again agam while they theywent theywent theywent went on scratching scratchmg |