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The years rolled by; I went to work for the Bell System, raised my family and all my children left the nest and made lives of their own. One day, about 1990, my daughter asked if she could have one of my 486th BGA patches and also borrow my A2 jacket. I thought nothing of it since, later, she gave me a photo of my grand daughter wearing the jacket. A pleasant surprise. On Father's Day I visited my daughter's house. She gave me a present which I opened. A wall clock. Great! I needed just such a clock in my bathroom. Then she gave me another package which I proceeded to open. Good! A blue sweatshirt! I needed that , too. As I unfolded it I saw that it was not an ordinary sweatshirt. Out came Pappy Yocum and Pappy's Chillun just as I had painted it on our airplane in early 1944 and just as I had painted it on my A2 jacket in late 1944. I was dumbfounded, speechless, choked up and had to fight back a tear or two.What a terriffic way to say 'thank you' to an old vet. Needless to say, I am very proud of that sweat shirt. I later sent my daughter, her name is Kathie by the way, a thank you note telling her nothing she could have done would have pleased me more. Kathie was one year old when I was flying missions over continental Europe. Kathie's husband, Ron, told me lateer that Kathie called him at his office the day she got my note. He said she didn't sound quite normal and he said, " What's the matter, honey"? She replied, "My daddy made me cry". Clayton Hutsell 486thBG 835th SQ 8thAAF |
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