let me tell you about that date when I crawled out of the P-38 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. 






P-47 that blew up:


Mark, what happened is this.  We were flying with a 200 gallon belly tank that was
just a few inches from the steel metal mesh runway.  When the tire blew it let the
tank scrape the metal runway and the gas exploded.  I just flicked my safety belt
and it blew me out onto the side of the runway.  Luckily we had had a lot of rain
and I landed in a mud puddle that cushioned my fall.  I was addled and started
running awy from the flames and they had to run me down with a jeep.  I wasn't hurt
and according to the squadron diary I flew a bombing and straffing mission to Wewak
the next day. 

LEW