Monday, April 24, 2006

Hey Jazzy Cat!

Just thought I'd relate something to you.

A couple of weeks ago my sister in-law's brother, Bob Williams of Martinsville, IN passed away suddenly from a brain aneurism. He was 82 years old. Bob was a WWII veteran of the US Army Air Corps. He was stationed in England and flew escort and occasional sorties into France. He flew a P51.

After the War he wound up working in a factory and didn't fly much for several years. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer, quit the factory and took up flying at the Bloomington, IN airport. Eventually, he obtained jet ratings and flew for corporations in the area. For several years he flew some guy named Bobbie Knight around until he departed the vicinity. Much more recently he flew rocker John Mellencamp here and there. He flew delivering a plane just 2 days prior to his death.

Bob, along with other local veterans were instrumental in the creation of a War Memorial which now adorns a corner just off the Martinsville town square. It's quite impressive. Check out http://www.mcvm.us/index2.htm.

Bob was an interesting fellow.

TLS

3 comments:

jazzycat said...

Terry,
I will check that site out as soon as i finish this comment. We took a little trip to Savannah by way of Callaway Gardens. This should help by photo inventory since I try to post one a day.

The pilot was certainly blessed by not suffering at the end of a full life.

Take care...
Jazzycat

Terry S said...

One thing I forgot to mention. Although I was unable to attend the service at the gravesite, my nephew reported that during a moment of silence, suddenly a loud noise came from above. Everyone looked up to see a P51 doing a fly over. An old friend of Bob's did the honors. Very nice.

TLS

jazzycat said...

Wow,
The P-51 was a little before my time, but I always thought it would have been awesome to fly that plane. What an honor for his funeral.
jazzycat