When my Dad was a little boy his father was a civil engineer for the State of Florida Road Department.
One of the things he did was install the runway lights for many of the air fields on and around Eglin.
My Dad says that my grandfather used to come home from work and talk about this pilot who spent his days practising short runway takeoffs in a B25 Bomber.
He says that Pop would say "I don't know what that guy's doing out there but he must be crazy."
Pop had no idea at the time that he was watching Jimmy Doolittle practise for the infamous Doolittle Raid.
Of course after the Raid, my grandfather knew immediately who that "crazy pilot" was and what he been practising for.
We drive by that field often and I always think about how cool it is that Pop sat under a big oak tree during his lunch break and watched the beginnings of what was to become one of the greatest air raids in American History.Labels: Done
