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safety of air travel. Recently we sent Pete a copy of movies taken in Miami in 1939 of Pete, Betty and me when we went down there to see if we would accept a transfer from Newark to Miami Oust as World War 11 was about to start). We accepted the transfer and I gave up my Navy commission in order to fly for Eastern from Miami to Accra, Africa via San Juan, Trinidad, Natal and Ascension Island during the war years. In a DC-3 or a C-47, it was a ten day round trip and we were given three weeks off to recover before we flew it again. During my 2 years of flying for the Navy and my 33 years for Eastern, I accumulated over 37,000 hours in the cockpit and went from single-engine pontoon reconnaissance and mail planes to four-engine jets. My longest month, which occurred during the 1930's when we were trying to keep Eastern viable, included 147 hours of flying. My career also included several trips in the cockpit of the Eastern DC-3 now displayed in the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Other fond memories include working in the Chief Pilot's office with Paul Foster and working with the Ace of Aces, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who so often met us with a warm handshake and called us by name as he encouraged us and brought Eastern from the struggling airline it was in the 1930's to the peak of success it enjoyed during the 60's and 70's. Following retirement, Pete, Fred, George Freiburger (who was my check pilot in Eastern's first jets, the DC-8) and I all settled, at least for part of the year, in North Carolina. We have wonderful memories of swimming at their farms, picking blue berries and reminiscing about flying the line. Betty and I send our warmest regards to our many Eastern friends and especially of you at REPA who work so hard to keep us informed about the company which meant so much to us. Bless you and keep up the good work. Our memories are among our most treasured assets. 

[[image]] Bob Young

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