xt7jh98zct60_33 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7jh98zct60/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7jh98zct60/data/2015ms086.dao.xml Bevins, Martha 0.05 Cubic Feet 55 items archival material 2015ms086 English University of Kentucky The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Martha Bevins letters to Tom McCarthy Radio broadcasting. Agriculture -- Kentucky. Birds Women air pilots. 1957 October 24 text 1957 October 24 2016 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7jh98zct60/data/2015ms086/Box_ms_42/Folder_1/Item_33/1957_10_24_Bevins_Spectacular_falls_and_survival.pdf 1957 October 24 1957 1957 October 24 section false xt7jh98zct60_33 xt7jh98zct60 1
Morning View Kentucky
. 24 October 1957

Hello Mr. McCarthy,
Your discussion of fantastic falls reminded me of some incredible
modern ones -— though I cannot recall places or dates.
One paratrooper whose chute failed to open, plumped to safety in
a large, yielding hay stack. Angther, on maneuvers up North, was
similarly Saved by deep snow drifts.
During the war in Europe, the complete tail assembly broke away
from a B 17 which had suffered a direct hit; and, with the gunner
still therein, descended several thousand feet in a series of
stalls into the tops of some dense trees. I believe the gunner
suffered an ankle injury while getting from the tree tops to the
ground. One of the service publications celebrated the event with
a cartoon depicting a B 17 tail high above an airport while the
gunner reported by radio, ”Tail gunner So-andSo coming in for a
landing." 1

' ‘ However I think the most fantastic modern fall Was the one which
occurred several years ago on a construction Job somewhere up East.
It happened during the construction of a tall building. The usual
temporary elevator was in operation, and it Was many stordes above
the street, carrying a man with a big wheelbarrow of concrete,
when it broke entirely free. Either by conscious thought process or
instinct, the man did the one thing in all the world that could
help him -— he curled himself up on top of the soft concrete in
the wheelbarrow. The Squushy stuff absorbed Just enough of the
impact to save his life.

Sincerely,
{B 1.me