"ArtKramr" wrote in message
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Subject: New Story on my Website
From: "Dudley Henriques"
Date: 2/4/04 6:22 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id: . net


"ArtKramr" wrote in message
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Subject: New Story on my Website
From: "John Keeney"
Date: 2/4/04 12:44 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:


"ArtKramr" wrote in message
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Subject: New Story on my Website
From: "Paul J. Adam"
Date: 2/3/04 3:21 PM Pacific

elt sorry for him. But while we were risking our necks over Germany
and
losing
good men, he was curled up and whining under a blanket. He flew
with
us,
but
after that not a single man in the 344th considered him to be one
of
us.


Remember that thousands of men were wounded, recovered and went back
to
combat
duty. It was the norm. Same in the infantry. It was the norm there
too.You
do
have some options in war, But not fighting isn't one of them.

Hanging by your ankle as you descend by parachute is not the norm
though and it really helps some times when you have the chance to
screw your courage up to face horrible but predictable things.

Jesus, between the blood rushing to his head, the realization that the
parachute harness was not designed to hold like that and is likely to
slip off at any second, it's wonder he ever stopped screaming.



Wasn't there an RAF fighter pilot who lost both legs in a fiery crash,
recovered and went back to flying combat missions wearing artificial
legs?

Yes there was, and it was my pleasure to have known him for many years.
Douglas Bader.

Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship



There were men who bounced back no matter what, and then there were those
that
didn't. Bader's courage and determination was a lesson for all of us. A
man I
would have been proud to have known.

What endeared Douglas to me had nothing to do with his heroics in the air,
which were considerable to say the least. Many don't know this about him
because he did it quietly, but Douglas was singularly responsible for
bettering the lives of countless severely handicapped children and adults;
people with whom he spent untold hours of his time helping through his
unending wit and dominating personality. I can't even begin to count the
lives he changed by stumping into a paraplegic ward somewhere or anywhere,
then jumping up on a table and dancing on his tin legs!
He turned despair into hope. Then he stuck around and turned hope into
reality for these people.
Douglas was the epitome of what is possible through sheer guts and will. I
miss our late night inter-country phone conversations between Maryland and
Petersham Mews while we "re-fought" the Battle of Britain as I drove him
absolutely nuts eating my corn flakes dry from a cup; crackling in his ears
through the line as we
attempted to get "Keith Park and Lee Mallory together in the same room again
without shouting at each other!!!" :-)
I guess there are many ways to remember a man like Douglas. Certainly his
courage is one of them. Personally, for me, his memory goes much deeper than
that. Of all his many attributes, what will last in memory for me was his
unselfish love for his fellow man.
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt