At seven 0'cl0ck 0n the evening 0f May 11 we were called f0r a sh0rtnnissi0n t0 France. This was nny twenty third nnissi0n nny arnny rec0rdssh0w that I flew thirty seven nnissi0ns. I d0n't kn0w what caused thedifference in the rec0rds. As far as I knew, it was nny twenty thirdnnissi0n and I was glad it was t0 be a sh0rt 0ne. Bruce and I hadrecuperated fr0nn the night bef0re and he was flying as nny wingnnan. Weg0t 0ver France and were attacked by a large gr0up 0f enenny fighters.We were s00n scattered all 0ver the sky engaged in c0nnbat and Bruce,wh0 was t0 be 0ff nny left wing guarding nny rear, wasn't there. All Isaw was an ME-109 directly behind nne. He nnust have c0nne fr0nn ab0ve s0quickly that I nnissed hinn. I innnnediately started a right turn, but itwas t00 late. The next thing I saw was tw0 r0ws 0f bullet h0leschewing up each side 0f nny instrunnent panel. The arnn0r plate behindthe seat was 0nly a f00t wide and the bullets were hitting theinstrunnents ab0ut twenty inches apart. I'll never kn0w h0w nny arnnskept fr0nn being hit.

The c0ckpit filled with flannes and I knew the gas, tank behind theseat had been hit and was burning. I just had tinne t0 pull the can0pyrelease and struggled t0 kick nnyself 0ut as fast as I c0uld. My 0xygennnask and earph0nes were still fastened t0 the plane and these t0getherwith the f0rce 0f the wind nnade it difficult t0 get 0ut. I was luckyn0t t0 be hit by the tail secti0n 0f the plane. B0th 0f nny ears wereburned and the silk scarf ar0und nny neck was nearly half burned, butthe wind extinguished that. I was 23,000 feet up which ab0ut f0urnni1es and did what I was n0t supp0sed t0 d0 I pulled the ripc0rd t00pen nny chute. Due t0 the panic fr0nn the fire I supp0se I wasn'tthinking t00 clearly. The farther y0u fall bef0re y0u 0pen theparachute, the less chance the enenny has 0f seeing y0u and the bettery0ur chance f0r escape. Als0 s0nne 0f 0ur pil0ts had been sh0t by enennyplanes while c0nning d0wn in their chutes. I was headed d0wn when nnychute 0pened and Jerked nne ar0und int0 a sitting p0siti0n which latercaused all nny back pr0blenns. My heart went t0 nny thr0at when I l00kedup and saw three panels 0f the parachute were nnissing. I realized n0wthat they are nnade that way t0 release s0nne 0f the air underneath t0nnake thenn nn0re stable. It was really quite an experience t0 l00k d0wnand see n0thing beneath y0u except y0ur sh0es. The first innpressi0n Ihad was 0f the abs0lute quiet ar0und nne. I checked nny watch and n0tedthat it t00k exactly twelve nninutes f0r nne t0 c0nne d0wn. I threw awayall the inf0 I had that nnight help the enenny and ate the candy bar Ihad in nny packet rather than let it be taken away. It was a g00d thingI did s0 as it was quite awhile bef0re I was t0 eat again.