Evening star., 1925-10-03
BY BENJAMIN O. HERETH,


BY BENJAMIN O. HERETH,
Aviation Machinists Mate, First Class
We'll. l guess we're done for-'' l
said that to my mates on the Shenan.
doah. And l guess that describes as
well as anything about the way l felt
about It,
1 don't know-people seem to think
that when you feel you're going-dy-
ing-you think Of your soul and your
mother and others dear to you. They
seem to think you get scared at the
idea of going. Maybe that's true. But
somehow l didn't think any Of those
things. And I wasn't scared.
Somehow. it just didn't seem to mat.
ter. Not that I wanted to die No, I
guess nobody does. But 1 seemed not
to care much. l think. maybe, things
happened so fast you didn't get a
chance to care or feel anything.
Not So Funny.
Then, too. when 1t all started to hap.
pen l was fast asleep. I had just been
relieved from duty at the engine /
was detailed to. And l had been sleep
ing about 80 minutes, when / was
awakened by my bed mate, rolling
down on top of me. Then We both
rolled off on the floor.
1t was a funny thing to happen
rolling out of bed. But it didn't strike
us at all funny when we found that
the reason for it all was the crazy
way the ship was acting. 1t was nos
ing down almost at right angles when
we were rolled onto the floor. Then Ii
kept ZoOming-first one way, then the
other. making half circles. Maybe 1t
didn't do it so often as that But we
were still sort of half asleep. and It
seemed as though the ship dancing a
jig any way 1t was minded to.
/ don't know what / first thought
of. But when a few moments later
we heard the ship crack-I knew all
right. The cracking and swapping
could only mean that something had
been torn wide open. Then we learn
ed that 1t wasn't much-just the ship
itself.
"Sort of Awful"
There must be something inside us
when they come. When you think
about far away from it, I guess it
does seem sort of awful. But there
right In the ship that was falling
falling faster all the time-I don't
know why, but 1 just didn't seem to
think anything much at all.
l remember saying. Well, l guess
Wc re uoIic lOI AliO lAcl recall
somebody else saying, Lets get out
Of this
Lets get out of this A nice
thing to suggest with nothing but
storm and wind outside-all around
us. And still several thousand feet
from terra firma-that would feel al.
together too firm, when we hit 1t.
Then we started dropping ballast
We We're going so fast we thought
that If we dropped a few gasoline
tanks we might break the speed. re
member thinking that wouldn't help
much. I was sure we hadn't chance
Failing all the etime-gathering speed
all the way
Glimmer of Hope.
I didn't even try to think what ]
could do to save myself when we
landed. You see, I didn't think we
would land" l thought we would
crash and crash awfully hard unless
something happened to check our
speed.
Just about then it did happen. Two
gondolas attached to the keel end, in
which I was. tore away and sped to-
ward the earth. Our speed was cut In
half. And for the first time there was
a glimmer of hope. Yet that didn't
"get rise out of me, either" some
how didn't seem able to feel anything
I couldn't feel happy that we had q
single chance to be saved. I couldn't
feel sad that we hadn't any. I don,
think believed that fate would de
termine the outcome. don't think
thought anything.
guess 1 was so Indifferent that al
the time I couldn't have felt a pin II
It was stuck In me.
In a moment we spotted the tree
tops right under us. And just said
''Well-so long-here we Co.
We brushed the tops of the trees and
a lot of the wreckage was torn away
and some of the bottom was ripped
off. We bumped over them for half a
mile or so, rising and falling. Finally
we came down. And let me tell you
we hit hard.
No Time for Cheers.
I scrambled out somehow. And ever
then I didn't seem to have a single
feeling. I suppose I should have felt
happy, relieved, grateful to a kline
God. But I was still numb. And
besides, there was no time fol
thanksgiving while our comrades
many of them, were still in the
wreckage-some never to come out
alive.
Those who got out first helped the
others. And no sooner did we do tha,
than we all had to turn and run. The
wrecked ship didn't seem to want tt
stay on land, after it had rushed sc
rapidly to meet it and carried SC
many to death. It kept rising a little
and drifting. More than once in the
rescue work we had to duck from
under it.