My father was a WWII pilot and were he still alive today, he would be 96. There are not many left of The Greatest Generation and we lose more every day. God rest their souls – they were faced with a horrific task and they did their duty.
Sidenote: We learn from Goodson that smoking is good for you:
That June, he was in his P-51 making a strafing run over a German airfield when he was shot down. He fled into a birch forest before collapsing from injuries. He eventually was caught by the Germans and threatened with execution.
He recalled that one captor asked him if he wanted a drink or another indulgence before being shot. Mr. Goodson spied a box of Havana cigars, asked for a stogie and began to blow smoke rings, which he said shocked the German and led to a conversation about their mutual interest in cigars.
“The guy had never seen anything like that,” Mr. Goodson once said in an interview, “and I started teaching him how to blow smoke rings.” Instead of being shot, he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
“People say smoking costs lives,” he said. “It saved my life.”
Godspeed, Lt.Col. Goodson. Rest Well.
Hat Tip: Althouse Crossposted at: Men Out Of Work Blog