29
Mar
My uncle was a real Vampire
I finally got my Uncle George’s World War II painting hung in my home library. It is a self-portrait of Uncle George in his P-51 Mustang during a dogfight with a squadron of Japanese Zeros over the South Pacific on Christmas Eve 1943. Uncle George, who has enjoyed a career as a commercial artist in Houston, Texas, since the war, shot down four enemy aircraft, leaving him just one short of being an “Ace.” Uncle George, now 82 and no longer able to see, advanced straight from a Tennessee high school into Army Air Corps flight training after his test scores went through the roof.
I wrote a column a few years ago about Uncle George and the squadron to which he was assigned. They were dubbed “The Vampires.” My column, which carried the headline “My uncle was a real Vampire,” drew quite a few comments from readers.
Uncle Georgia was shot down (he crash landed on an island and avoided Japanese capture until he was rescued) right after the scene that now hangs in my home library. When he reached a stateside hospital he met a WAC (Women’s Air Corps) nurse named Reta who helped him recover from his injuries. Reta turned out to be my Aunt “Cookie.” She is still caring for him after more than 50 years of marriage.
