US Military in WW2: Fighter Pilots by Martin Caidin & Robert S. Johnson & George Churchill Kenney

Author:Martin Caidin & Robert S. Johnson & George Churchill Kenney [Caidin, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: WW2
ISBN: 9780359084067
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: 2018-09-12T00:00:00+00:00

15 - The Wicked Digit

A FEW DAYS LATER PAPPY transferred his annoyance with the 3rd Attack Group to something that had bothered him for more than a month. Somehow he had broken the little finger on his right hand between the second and third joints. One of the doctors in Brisbane had set it in a splint at least three times as Pappy would forget about it and bang it into something and break the splint loose or impatiently tear it off. He made a metal protector for the cast but that didn't help much. Then he tried taping the offending little finger and third finger together. This expedient didn't last long, as it was not only clumsy but it got in the way and prevented him from using his hand. That was something that Pappy couldn't stand for, and he decided to remedy the situation at once.

He hunted up his friend Major John "Doc" Gilmore, the flight surgeon of the 3rd Group then at Dobodura and said, "Doc, I want you to cut this damn finger off. I don't need a little finger anyhow, and this thing won't heal up. It keeps bothering me all the time. I got work to do, so cut it off."

Gilmore tried to calm Pappy down. He explained that if the finger was immobilized for a couple of weeks, it would get all right but the trouble was it was being kept irritated the way Pappy was acting. He further stated that any hand, including Pappy's, ought to have five fingers, and that he was not going to cut it off.

"What do you mean a couple of weeks?" returned Pappy. "The trouble with you pill-pushing veterinaries is that you're not only ignorant and don't seem to know that I got a war to fight, but you're chicken. Afraid of a little blood, that's what you are. So you won't cut it off. Well, I'll fix it for you."

He calmly drew his pistol from the shoulder holster, shifted it to his left hand, and pointed it at the offending digit.

"If you won't cut it off," he said, "I'll shoot it off, and then maybe your humanitarian instincts will induce you to finish the job."

Gilmore had known Pappy now for more than a year. He also knew that Pappy would carry out his threat and it would be a far messier job than a simple amputation. Further remonstration was useless. "Well?" said Pappy as Gilmore hesitated.

"All right," the doctor replied, "come on over to the hospital and we'll get it over with."

On arrival at the hospital Pappy was given a local anesthetic and the offending finger removed. The doctor gave him a sedative, told him to go to bed, and let him see the job the next morning.

Around noon the next day at mess Gilmore inquired for Pappy, as he had not shown up.

"Oh," was the reply from the Group Operations officer, "Colonel Gunn left for Australia this morning at five-thirty."

"Who did he go with?" asked the doctor.

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