01 Feb Propwash 43-C
Herman in Propwash 43-C
Larry of the ArmyAirForces.com Forum answered one of my posts and told me about the site www.aafcollection.info where I could find some Sequoia Field class books he had downloaded there. There wasn’t one for Herman’s class but then … I found the actual book (!!) in one of the boxes I had taken from his home. It is called Propwash 43-C, published October 28, 1942.
There is a poem in Propwash that Herman wrote entitled Ode to “E”. He was in the K Flight, and I’m not sure what “E” refers to. When you read it, you will realize that when he wrote this poem Herman already knew he would not become a pilot. He would soon depart Sequoia Field to become a Bombardier, which originally had been his first choice anyway.
Ode to “E”
I was musing, gently musing,
On the bench on the Line,
The planes were flying, flying,
The hour was around ten or nine.
I heard a murmur, gentle murmur,
From in beside the door.
Eagerly I began to wonder, wonder,
Would it be my name as before.
The plane flew higher, gently higher,
As I climbed for a spin.
Could it be I blundered, blundered —
I brought her sadly in.
Presently I heard a whisper, whisper,
As voice close to my ear,
It was quietly saying, saying,
Things I didn’t want to hear.
****
This is my story of a company,
Men who will now go forth,
Bombardier, Navigator, Air Crew,
To meet East, West, South, North.
The future perhaps not of their making,
Tomorrow is foreign in name,
The tale is not to their liking,
For they are not to blame.
The stick — theirs but for the moment,
Dreams — (oh, to forget that stall),
Wishes now turn to hardfast thinking,
For soon will come the call.
In ambition they are not lacking,
Fear — unheard of to their mind.
Courage — to face the coming future,
A courage you will seldom find.
This is my story of a company,
Men who will not go forth,
Bombardier, Navigator, Air Crew,
To meet East, West, South, North.
****
Salute them as they pass by,
Cheer them as they fade from sight.
God knows they may be your companion,
Someday in that turmoil and fight.
A/C Herman F. Allen
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