Empty Box

Pilots families generaly burry an empty box Tom thought. Especially if the plane is shot down somewhere over the alps or some God forsaken place. You auger in and the whole mess goes up like the fourth of July. Tom was fine with that. He thought.

Dave Whipple had been killed the week before last when a ack ack gun had hit the bomb bay on his way in to Berlin. The explosion nearly destroyed the aircraft flying near him. Tom thought the pour guy had no idea, well, maybe that's the best versus a 3 minute ride to the deck knowing the G forces have you pinned in a doomed craft. But Tom always thought that would give him the few minutes he needed to make things right with his maker, think about his family.

Tom's job gave him good reason to struggle with eternity, and the fragility of life. Many good men had bought it since his arrival with bomber command. Many families had lost the provider, husband, father, and son. He didnt feel as bad about it, but he also thought of those on whom the bombs fell. Many of those in the crews were dropping bombs on towns their families had immigrated from, in some cases only a few decades earlier. Cousins, probably killed cousins. Lincoln said in his second state of the union address, "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other." That was true of this war and the effort in which Tom and his comrades labored.