I'd gotten the same impression of the pilots, which is a very appealing dynamic to me. But I haven't read any of the actual stories, and it looks like this is one of them.
On a slightly relevant tangent, my entire life I'd been told that my Grandpa Artie (Dad's Dad, the one I loved) had been drafted into WWII, where he worked on early computers. I had always thought that was odd, since he was Jewish; he was hugely anti-authority, but I felt that was taking it a bit too far.
A couple years ago, long after his death, Dad told me that he had, in fact, volunteered. He wanted to be a fighter pilot, and got all the way through very difficult training. When he was supposed to ship out, his CO came up with his file. It was stamped COMMUNIST. In red! His CO asked him if it was true, and Grandpa Artie said it was. Reluctantly, his CO said Communists were banned from being pilots, but he could do something else instead. Grandpa Artie was so pissed off that he instead stomped home and sat there until he was drafted!
This story only makes me love him even more, but I still wonder why in all the times I grilled him about his war experiences, he never told me about it. I also wonder if him being a Communist is the reason I exist. Pilots had a pretty high mortality rate.
no subject
On a slightly relevant tangent, my entire life I'd been told that my Grandpa Artie (Dad's Dad, the one I loved) had been drafted into WWII, where he worked on early computers. I had always thought that was odd, since he was Jewish; he was hugely anti-authority, but I felt that was taking it a bit too far.
A couple years ago, long after his death, Dad told me that he had, in fact, volunteered. He wanted to be a fighter pilot, and got all the way through very difficult training. When he was supposed to ship out, his CO came up with his file. It was stamped COMMUNIST. In red! His CO asked him if it was true, and Grandpa Artie said it was. Reluctantly, his CO said Communists were banned from being pilots, but he could do something else instead. Grandpa Artie was so pissed off that he instead stomped home and sat there until he was drafted!
This story only makes me love him even more, but I still wonder why in all the times I grilled him about his war experiences, he never told me about it. I also wonder if him being a Communist is the reason I exist. Pilots had a pretty high mortality rate.