The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1918-06-14
LETTER FROM
LIEUTENANT THOMPSON
Post Hospital, Park Field, Tenn

Post Hospital, Park Field, Tenn,
June IL, 1918.
To the Mayor of Tupelo:
Dear Mr.. Robins:-I have been very
4 long time acknowledging receipt OF
the very, very pretty flowers you peo-
pie were so kind to send me as soon
as you heard of my fall, but ! hope
YOU will not think that | appreciated
them any the less, and | want to
thank YOU most heartily for them and
assure you that they went further
than you will ever know toward
cheering me up at time when l
might otherwise have been feeling
rather blue.
You probably want to know how
the accident happened, but you al
ready know as much about it as do.
For sometime have been an IN
structor in acrobatics, or the "stunts"
YOU saw me doing in Tupelo, and |
had started up with a student to give
him his first lesson and am told
that we had gotten about four hum
dred feet high when we fell. ! was
f1ying the ship at the time, but l
haven't the slightest memory OF get
ting into trouble or trying to get out
of it. I do know that my right leg
was broken above the knee and my
Jaw was fractured. My leg is IN
sling and swung to the ceiling and
nv teeth are wired togethed SO l
can't open my mouth, SO all my food
| is taken in through a tube and they
have removed one tooth for that pur-
pose. Now don't let this description
make you think I am in such terri
BILE shape for you would be very much
surprised to see me and know how
well am getting along, and before
YOU know it I'll be out of here. Ev-
erybody is SO nice to me that my
slightest wish is granted, and l can
have any liquid I can think OF, ex-
cept alcoholic beverages and l get
that rubbed in
Everybody outside is kicking about
the hot weather, but / have a very
cool room and big electric fan, so
I certainly don't suffer from It. l
have three real sweet nurses, who be-
long to the army nurse corps and any
number of hospital corps men to do
things for me and whole flock OF
doctors. SO YOU sees Uncle Sam takes
good care of his birds. | am not the
only one. Of course, that they take
care of daily, though. You see am
not sick and / have lots of time to
think up things to pull off on EN- SO
I have lots more fun than | ever
thought | would have IN bed in hos
pital. In another week or so they
viii put my leg in a plaster cast and
then | can get about little, and |
expect to go to Florida some time in
July and hope to be flying again by
the first day of August. And | hope
the next time I get a fall it will be
after | have brought down few
Huns.
I suppose you heard of us tearing
down a fence at Meridian on our way
back from Pensacola. Neither OF us
got a scratch. Jackson seems to be
nv "Jonah" for / was trying to leave
the ground at Meridian with Jackson
as my next stop when | hit that
fence, and | was taking my last flight
the afternoon before I was to go to
Jackson next morning when / fell.
That's funny isn't it? am going to
fly to Jackson some day just for the
hell of it.
In conclusion would like to say a
whole lot of extremely nice things
about you and your people OF Tupe-
10, but / am reminded of what Ham
bone says, that is, It isn't wise to say
unreasonal y nice things about people
directly to them because they never
can tell whether they are fooling yos
or you are fooling them.
Please give my very best regards
to anyone who might be interested
and rest assured that am getting on
better than could be expected.
Very sincerely yours,
Harry W. Thompson.
~