[The following takes place during the opening phases of US involvement in World War II, specifically when large amounts of fighter and bomber pilots were finishing their training and flying to rendezvous points in preparation for transport to the fighting in Europe.]
In April, his training completed, Baskin joined McGovern at Lincoln, Nebraska, where his plane was weathered in for a few days. Then in the middle of the month the sky was clear, so it was off to Florida in formation with his bomber group on its way to Europe. Co-pilot Baskin was flying when the plane passed over his farm near Vaiden, Mississippi. Baskin pealed his Liberator out of formation and buzzed the place. He scared the wits out of all the chickens, cows, pigs, and mules and saw his dad standing in the backyard, puffing on his pipe, watching. Then he buzzed his school, practically at window level, to give Bobby, his little brother, a big hello. Bobby, hearing the plane roar, jumped up from his desk saying, “That’s my brother,” and ran out to the playground to wave goodbye to his big brother as Baskin flew off on his way to combat.
The chickens didn’t lay and the cows went dry for a week, and Bobby got suspended from school.
Source:
Ambrose, Stephen E. “Learning to Fly the B-24.” The Wild Blue: The Crews of the B-24. Simon & Schuster, 2002. 92. Print.
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