December 16, 1943, Lemoore, California, Close Call

Tom describes a near fatal training accident which he narrowly avoided. It is a note to himself, on the last page of his address book. This was in the collection held by his daughter and forwarded to me. She had attached a Post-it note saying, “Check out “Close Calls” I think it was censored by my mother.
Close Calls:

On Dec. the 16th while here at Lemoore Basic I just about didn’t get to celebrate my 20th birthday.

December 16, 1943, Lemoore, California, Close Call
December 16, 1943, Lemoore, California, Close Call

While coming in for landing, was just leveling off when a plane landed just over me. Had I continued my landing I would have run into the other plane and smeared us both over the runway. I gunned the engine and just cleared the other plane. Had it not been for the fact that I had my flaps most all the way down I would not have been able to clear the other ship. Lesson learned: Look out for the dumb who are going to land on top of you.

T.E.C

A Young Man Went Off to War