Quote:
Let me tell you about that date when I crawled out of the P-39 and why I don't
think it can ever be found. By the way it was Jan. 23, 1943 and not the 28th as
listed. When I hit the ground I was in the middle of the outback, and it was the
middle of the summer there and it was hot. I was beside the trickle of a small
stream and I decided I had better stay close to it for I did not have a canteen. As
I walked down stream it got bigger and bigger and I finally looked up and saw a
windmill and a house. Before I started my walk I saw a lot of heavy black smoke and
knew the plane had exploded and burned. I was greeted by members of an
outback cattle station that was isolated in some hundreds of square miles of space.
For the next three days we went on horseback looking for the wreckage and even
though they were familiar with the territory we could not find any evidence of the
crash. Now after all these years I think it would be impossible to locate any of
it. The squadron came to get me in a jeep and took me back to Charters Towers,
Australia that was the base I took off from. a few days later I was on the way to
New Guinea and combat and the rest is history.
About the P-38s, I don't know what happened to all of them. Get on google and read
the story of The Glacier Girl, a P-38 that was dug out of the ice and restored. I
went to Middlesboro, KY and saw it after it was restored. I have some pictures in
front of it. It has been sold to a private party and is now somewhere in Texas.
The attachment shows my membership card as a member of the Caterpillar Club. The
other attachment is of the P-38 model that Sully sent me last Christmas. You can
read the inscription placque.
You haven't told me if you would be interested in reading some chapters of the book
on Lt. Bob Thorpe that I flew with and was beheaded by the Japanese. Also the movie
script.
Keep in touch.
My P-38 Marlee 2 / Port Moresby folder: 
