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From: Terry Hopkins
Date: 8/13/2004
Time: 4:50:44 PM
Remote Name: 137.80.60.254
Francis,
You wrote: "He also killed the award of the Solider's Medal to a guy on the flightline who saved someone from buring the death with Av Gas"
You may not believe this but unless there was another incident identical to this one at another time that was ME!
I can't recall the date but I was crossing the flight line coming back from the mail room, heading for the avionics shop, and I looked up from the letter I was reading and saw this fireball running across the flight line towards the aircraft, screaming. I ran after him, knocked him down and threw dirt on him to put him out (I'm sure THAT helped. When I pulled his smoldering pants off, the skin came with them. I recall the maintenance officer had submitted me for the Soldiers Medal but you are correct, it was never awarded. The vietnamese guy was a KP from the mess hall next to the avionics shop (52nd Sig?) and had been priming the imersion heaters with gasoline. I guess he had the stuff all over him and the flash back ignited his cloths. All I could think of at the time was he was going to set the planes on fire. I burnt all the hair off my arms but that was all. That would have been late 68 or early 69....small world!