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pg.48
of a B-29 on which to set the planes down.) The visibility and ceiling was so bad coupled with the fact that it was almost impossible for the pilot to distinguish the runway when they could see the runway from the rest of the island because it was dirt like the rest of the terrain around it that we had to leave the trailer rather hurriedly about seven or eight times that afternoon. Each time the big planes would miss us by only a few feet. It was not conducive to steady nerves. If ever a 29 hits the trailer it will wipe out the crew insides...Most of the big brass left the scene after the first couple of close ones...We got most of them down however...Two more left up there circling the island...Visibility went down to zero...We tried one pass with Skeezix Five but he missed the trailer by three feet and never even saw the runway...It was useless and the night of 20 April had taught us a lesson...We advised the pilot that we'd vector him over the island to bail out. He didn't want to, he said he wanted to try it once more. However he had only twenty minutes of gas left, we pointed out, and if he failed to get in on the second pass he wouldn't have enough gas left to gain sufficient altitude to bail out. We argued back and forth and time was running out. Finally Lt. Col. Frennel went on the air and said, "I order you to bail out." The pilot said that one of the crew's parachutes had come open in the plane. He was told to gather up the open 'chute in his arms and jump. The plane was vec-