Today some are celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, new babies, engagements and some may even be extending St Patrick’s Day festivities, but to my husband’s family March 19 is known as Bailout Day. It was on this day in 1945 during his 47th bombing mission over Germany, my father-in-law’s P47 was hit by enemy fire and he was forced to “bail out”. While ejecting from the plane his legs hit the tail section and were crushed. He successfully parachuted to the ground only to be surrounded by townspeople wanting to kill him. A German officer stopped them and took him prisoner. As such they weren’t very concerned about his broken legs. After being rescued and upon landing on US soil, he held a higher value of the Stars and Stripes. He was sent to Massachusetts where he spent two years in rehab and recovery. It was there he met his wife, Esther. After moving back home to Kansas and completing his degree, they moved to Tennessee and raised a family of three boys and one girl, who they taught to respect the flag, honor veterans and forever celebrate Bailout Day.
To acknowledge this day, John and I watched Patton, which is always a good choice, but even better on Bailout Day. For us it’s a day to be thankful for generations of brave soldiers who have fought, suffered, buried friends, experienced the horror of war and returned forever changed and ever valiant to maintain our freedom. It’s a day to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can remain free. It is a day to continue to pray for those defending our freedom and their families. It’s a day to remember the way we looked at the flag after 911, because it is how we should look at it every day. It is a day to celebrate the blessing of a saved life that resulted in three boys and a girl, who continue to celebrate that March 19 is Bailout Day and have passed on the respect for this day to another generation of three boys and one girl, and now a new generation starting with a three-year old boy will grow up knowing the P-38 is a unique looking WWII fighter plane and will hear the story of the day his Great Grandfather bailed out and survived.
Each year and each generation of this family will understand the significance of March 19 and bail out day, but we encourage you to celebrate the freedom we enjoy because of generations of US soldiers.
Ellen R Wirshing says
Love family stories, this one is great Nancy!
Nancy Lund says
thank you, i am finally getting back to writing. Don’t ask me why it has taken so long. Too much crafting time. Ha