Shaken but Grateful

THE BOMBING RUN over Ploesti was a disaster. Vaughn Gordy’s B-24 was riddled with flak, and two engines were knocked out. One crew member was killed, and several others were wounded. As the aircraft started losing speed and altitude, a decision had to be made about the five-hundred-mile flight home over water. Could they make it on two engines? The pilot and engineer finally decided they could. Gordy said, “With fingers crossed and an appeal to God’s help we headed across the Adriatic.” The crew started throwing every loose item overboard to lighten the ship.

Forty miles later, one of the remaining engines caught fire, and the pilot immediately announced, “We’re going to ditch.” As the B-24 struck the water with a violent crash, Gordy was knocked unconscious for a moment and woke up to find himself in shoulder-deep water. Someone helped him out the top hatch and into a rubber raft where he soon saw his airplane sink beneath the surface. Fortunately, rescue came soon as an Air Force seaplane appeared over the horizon. Gordy summed up the incident:

Four hours after the crash, we were back in Italy. Final tally: our tail gunner was killed in the crash and went down with the plane; our waist-gunner was seriously injured, but survived; but the rest of the crew went back to work the next day, shaken but grateful.

After ditching at sea, some time off would seem to be in order. Bomber Command, however, seemed to believe that crash survivors should just get over the trauma and get back to work. It is undoubtedly true that the longer you brood about a pain or fear, the harder it will be to get over it later. This applies especially in our relationships. It is always better to clear the air sooner rather than later. Instead of letting a sore spot fester, forgive someone or ask them for forgiveness, and get on with your next assignment.