CAP's Airborne Chaplains Part 2

[sardak]

I found several articles about CAP chaplains bailing out of a burning airplane, but lo and behold, CAP Talkers don't miss anything and there was a previous post from 2009.  http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=8507.msg152949#msg152949

That article concentrated on the plane crash, but the other articles focused on the chaplains. Here's how TIME magazine described the incident in its October 4, 1954 issue:
****
Religion: On a Wing & a Prayer

The Air Force C46 had been airborne only a few minutes when smoke began to stream from one of the engines. Fire-extinguishing procedure did no good, and Captain Thomas E. Wilson decided to abandon the plane. "MAYDAY," the distress call, went out, "MAYDAY—MAYDAY—MAYDAY."

In the cabin behind were 15 ministers —chaplains of the Civil Air Patrol bound from Burbank, Calif, to a convention in Sacramento. When the word to hit the silk came back to them, Major Bertil Von Norman, pastor of the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church and chaplain of the wing, called for prayer, and the heads bowed in silence. "Thy will be done . . . Thy will be done . . ." prayed Chaplain Von Norman to himself. Two minutes later, while the burning plane banked, he stood at the open door and began sending the sky pilots off into the air, one by one, with a slap on the rear and an occasional shove.

Swinging down and down to a jolting thud on a field of green alfalfa, Parson Von Norman thought of the 23rd Psalm: "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." Pilot Wilson jumped too, and the empty plane crashed. On the ground the men gathered, bruised and nervous. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," someone said. Later, reporters asked the shaken clergymen how they had felt, faced by a moment that often brings even the most hardened sinners to repentance. One of them answered for all. "There was plenty of prayer going on," he said.
***

The article in the Toledo (Ohio) Blade on September 21, 1954 included these comments:
*****
"This was an occasion, when doubly, we were practicing what we preach, namely, prayer," said the Rev. Neville E. Carlson of Fillmore, Calif.

"The Lord was with us in many ways, even to the fact that the fire in one engine was on the right side of the plane and the door through which we jumped was on the left," said the Rev. Bertil von Norman of the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church.

The chaplains and crewmen were wearing parachutes and had been briefed before take-off but, none of the ministers had ever jumped before.

Mr. von Norman, a CAP major, was credited by his colleagues with calm heroism as he helped the chaplains adjust their 'chutes and shepherded them out the door, one by one. He was the last chaplain to bail out. The crew followed, with Captain Wilson the last to jump when the ship was no more than a 1,000 feet up just west of Saugus, Calif. The C46 was reduced to a mass of junk.

The chaplains - coatless because of warm weather - landed in pastures, on slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains and one on a railroad track. A half dozen suffered cuts or bruises, wrenched legs or shoulders, but none was seriously hurt.
****

Mike

[Private Investigator]

Mike, great story. Thanks for sharing.   :clap:

[Critical AOA]

Yeah, taking time to engage in superstitious behavior before jumping makes great sense.

[PHall]

Yeah, taking time to engage in superstitious behavior before jumping makes great sense.

Hey, depending on a rag and a bunch of shoestrings to keep you from banging your butt into the ground is an act of faith!

[stillamarine]

Yeah, taking time to engage in superstitious behavior before jumping makes great sense.

Brother every time I've jumped out of a plane I've engaged in superstitious behavior.

[Private Investigator]

Roger that. Sometimes,  PLF = hard hit 

[Alaric]

That's an awesome story

[a2capt]

When time comes that I jump out of a plane, I'm sure I'm going to be doing a little superstitious behavior too.. 

[ol'fido]

There's an old story about the Gurkha Regiment in the British Army. When told that they were going to be trained to jump out of airplanes, the senior Gurkha sergeant asked his British officer what altitude they were going to jump at. The officer said 1000 feet. The Gurkha  sergeant very seriously asked if they could jump at a lower altitude such as 300'. The officer replied that 300' would be insufficient as the parachutes wouldn't have time to open. The sergeant looked very happy and said "There will be parachutes? Most excellent. 1000 feet would be fine."

This story is told to convey the toughness and devotion to duty of the Gurkhas. It is most likely apocryphal, but it's really neat.