But let's go back a couple of days.

     When we landed with our new crew and new airplane from Ft. Wayne/Syracuse at Grenier, NH (we were downed by weather to Syracuse and barred by weather from Dow Field at Bangor, Maine) we parked in a designated spot on the ramp for the night.    As we walked across the ramp to close our flight plan at operations, here was Master Sergeant Edward Pugh working on a nearby airplane.

     It was old home day, week, and month!  Ned Pugh had been my favorite crew chief and I his favorite pilot for our long months with the 52nd Troop Carrier Squadron in Victorville CA, on maneuvers in the Carolinas, and at Sedalia.    He was ordered out long before I could get away, so our chance meeting on the ramp at Grenier was one of those happy coincidences.  And I told him where we were bound... some wintry place overseas I thought, because we had been issued electrically-heated flying suits.

     He and his crew of 3 other mechanics (crew chiefs) met us in operations next morning as we prepared to leave for? Under our big secret orders.

     Ned Pugh told my new crew chief to go have another cup of coffee in the lounge; he and his boys, by God, were going to pre-flight (inspect) my airplane like no other airplane had ever been pre-flighted before.  And they did.

     Then we called Sgt. Truitt out of the coffee shop, boarded, shut the door, and started the engines.  As I released the brakes to taxi out for takeoff, there were Ned Pugh and his three other mechanics, lined up in a ragged rank.     When they caught my eye just as we started to move, they all saluted almost simultaneously.

     Never before nor since did I return a salute with more pride in the men who kept us safe.   Let an engine falter on takeoff—or in the black of night over the Burmese jungle while you have about 20 fifty-gallon drums as cargo and you may be dealing with the final problem you'll ever have.

From my Diary on the trip to India

Wed. Sept. 20, 1944: After six days of processing at Baer Field, Ft. Wayne, Ind., we left for Dow Field, Bangor, Maine. Crew: 2nd Lt. William V. Vaughn, Houston, Texas, co-pilot; Cpl. Alfred J. Truitt, Orange, Texas, Engineer; Pvt. Stanley P. Milewski, Manchester, N.H. radio operator; and 1st Lt. Eugene L. Nuckols (ATC), navigator. We’re held up overnight at Syracuse N.Y. by weather.

Thurs. Sept. 21, 1944: Left Syracuse for Dow Field, but were called in by Traffic Control at Grenier Field, Manchester, N.H.  Spent two nights at Grenier, the Aerial Port of Embarkation.

Sat. Sept. 23, 1944: Took off from Grenier for Gander Bay, Newfoundland.

Mon. Sept. 25, 1944: Left Gander Field for Lagens Field, Azores, a l0-hour over-water trip.

Tues. Sept.26, 1944: Left Lagens, in company with lots of B-24's, B-17's and C-54's, for Marrakech, French Morocco.

Thurs. Sept. 28, 1944: Left Marrakech for El Aouina, Tunis, via Taza Pass, Oran Algeria, and Bone. We hit several enormous thunderstorms over the Atlas Mountains.   In Cairo we talked with another pilot in the same storm.  His C-47 was flipped on its back and he pulled out in a split S.  He said his wings took a one-foot upward rupture because of the stress pulling out of the split S. True?  I don't know!   On instruments over the Tunisian battlefields, Evidences of the German tenure at El Aouina are everywhere.   Some areas on the airfield still are mined, and wrecked German planes are numerous near the field.  The barracks we stayed in were minus windows and doors from shelling, etc.

Fri. Sept. 29, 1944: Left Tunis for John H. Payne Field, Cairo. Flew over the ruins of ancient Carthage, Cape Bon, Tripoli, Benghazi, and El Alamein.   Over the entire land route are thousands of wrecked or abandoned military vehicles of all kinds.  Wreckage is particularly heavy between El Alamein and the Qttara Depression, site of the decisive battle for North Africa.

Sat. Sept. 30, 1944: Went on a tour of Cairo and the pyramids.  Saw also the Alabaster mosque in Cairo's Citadel.

Sun. Oct. 1 - Mon. Oct 2, 1944:   I grounded myself on arrival Friday because of a severe cold I caught in Newfoundland and because I thought the crew deserved a bit of rest and a quick look at the north-Nile antiquities of Egypt.

Tues. Oct. 3, 1944:    Left Cairo at 0200 for Abadan, Iran, passing over the Suez Canal, Bethlehem just at dawn and Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. From Habbaniya, Iraq, we followed the valley of the Euphrates River into Abadan.

Wed. Oct. 4, 1944:    Took off from Abadan for Karachi, Sind, India, by way of Sharjah, Arabia, and Jask, Iran.

Thurs. Oct. 5, 1944:   Spent afternoon in Karachi. Snake charmers and peddlers, camels and cattle everywhere.  Actually saw a bull wandering around in a china shop.

Sun. Oct. 8, 1944:    Saw Gordon G. Wright and Norman Barna, both homeward bound after 16 months each on the Hump.

Tues. Oct. 10, 1944:   Left Karachi for Agra.  Saw the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, which contains the palace of Shah Jehan, builder of the Taj.

Wed. Oct. 11, 1944:    Arrived Sylhet for duty with the First Combat Cargo Group.

Thurs. Oct. 12, 1944:    Assigned to the First Combat Cargo Squadron, and moved into the rooms of Lt. Bring, co-pilot of an airplane which crashed about Sept. 20, 1944, killing, among others, Major William C. Schmidt and Lt. Bring. Good for Morale?