Michelle: Tell Jackie and Trish about the first time you ever rode in a plane.
Colonel: It was in the vicinity of Trier, T-R-I-E-R. Germany. March. And um, we had captured a couple of prisoners, and they were the type that wanted to intimidate you. They were vocal. Lemoyne [our translator] was with me, he knew what they were saying.
Jackie: Where were they from?
Colonel: Germany.
Colonel: As we interrogated these prisoners, they were vocal, ya know. “We’ll get cha! We’ll get cha! Our tanks will get cha!”
Michelle: How many were there of each of you?
Colonel: Oh! There was just me and a couple of other guys, maybe 3 or 4, something like that. And just 2 prisoners.
Colonel: And they were bragging that their tanks would get us. This told us that the Germans were capable of launching a tank attack. And I had an anti-tank company. But I needed to know where they were going to come from. We couldn’t tell where they were going to come from. Of course these guys weren’t telling us anything except “Our tanks will get cha”. So, the Artillery Liaison Officer was there and a witness to this conversation. And he said, 'Captain, if you want to go up, I’ll take you'. He piloted an L4, which is a small plane, a piper.
We could take it up and look out and see what we could learn. So I said, “Okay!”. So we went back to where he had this L4, in a pasture, grass, that’s all. And it was a seat in the front and seat in the back. Pilot was in the front, and I got in the back. And up we go! We get up and he circles around, circles around. And I could tell from up there EX-ACTLY what those Germans had in mind. I could tell where they were going to come in, I could tell everything that I needed to know. I had a small radio, and I radioed back, gave directions, they radioed back, etc. And then came the time it’s beginning to get dark. It came the time for us to get out of there. He had been up; he had not gone over Germany [territory]. We had enough daylight that we could tell the pattern to their approach. And um, he goes back to get the plane down, and as he came into that pasture, the wind was getting up. And the wind blew the plane sideways and he couldn’t begin to get that plane down. Circling around, came back, sideways again. Here we are going down across this pasture! Sideways! Up again. So he came in a third time and this time he went like this [holds his arms up at a 90 degree angle with fisted hands and pulls down on an invisible rope]. And I haven’t the faintest idea what he was trying to tell me. He was going like that [demonstrates again]. So I’m sitting in the back seat of this plane and in we come! This time I learned that he was trying to tell me that he was going to set it down. So we got in about eight feet off the ground and HMMM, HMMM, HMMM! We bounced around and so on, went all the way across the grass pasture, pretty close to a fence, but not really. That’s what he was trying to tell me – he was going to set it down no matter what! My first plane ride!
What were you thinking while you were up there?
I was really concentrating on what the Germans had in mind, I wasn’t thinking a whole lot about... He was going as far up as he could go, and still see, and not get over Germany. I say Germany, but out over the lines of their territory.
We could take it up and look out and see what we could learn. So I said, “Okay!”. So we went back to where he had this L4, in a pasture, grass, that’s all. And it was a seat in the front and seat in the back. Pilot was in the front, and I got in the back. And up we go! We get up and he circles around, circles around. And I could tell from up there EX-ACTLY what those Germans had in mind. I could tell where they were going to come in, I could tell everything that I needed to know. I had a small radio, and I radioed back, gave directions, they radioed back, etc. And then came the time it’s beginning to get dark. It came the time for us to get out of there. He had been up; he had not gone over Germany [territory]. We had enough daylight that we could tell the pattern to their approach. And um, he goes back to get the plane down, and as he came into that pasture, the wind was getting up. And the wind blew the plane sideways and he couldn’t begin to get that plane down. Circling around, came back, sideways again. Here we are going down across this pasture! Sideways! Up again. So he came in a third time and this time he went like this [holds his arms up at a 90 degree angle with fisted hands and pulls down on an invisible rope]. And I haven’t the faintest idea what he was trying to tell me. He was going like that [demonstrates again]. So I’m sitting in the back seat of this plane and in we come! This time I learned that he was trying to tell me that he was going to set it down. So we got in about eight feet off the ground and HMMM, HMMM, HMMM! We bounced around and so on, went all the way across the grass pasture, pretty close to a fence, but not really. That’s what he was trying to tell me – he was going to set it down no matter what! My first plane ride!
What were you thinking while you were up there?
I was really concentrating on what the Germans had in mind, I wasn’t thinking a whole lot about... He was going as far up as he could go, and still see, and not get over Germany. I say Germany, but out over the lines of their territory.
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