| I didn't fly to
Kansas City with Wanda and the Show Me. I had the
pleasure of being on the ground amongst the bomber builders when Greg
and Dick roared over head announcing their arrival. There was not an
arthritic joint in the crowd as the reunion guests rushed out of the
Heart of America hangar to see the Show Me turn and come in for a
landing. The man nearest to me was teary eyed. I patted him on the shoulder and realized the arm I was holding ... was a prosthetic arm. He reluctantly dragged his eyes from the aircraft overhead to see who was at his side. He didn't recognize my face but he noticed the B25 on my shirt. He grinned and clasped my hand with his good arm. "You're with the plane aren't you?" he asked hopefully. "Yes I am," I was proud to say. I lifted his name tag that was about 10 inches long with the years of all the NAA bomber builder reunions he had attended. His name was John M. Emmert. I said "I take it you're a former bomber builder..." He said proudly "Yes I am." My gaze fell to his arm. "Ask me how I lost this arm," he said following my eyes and train of thought. I said "John Emmert ... how did you lose that arm?" He told me as we both watched the Show Me land and taxi in, guided by a HOA member's WWII jeep with the American flag flying proudly behind it. He cupped his good hand around his ear to listen more intently to the engines as Greg and Dick ran them up. The story he told brought tears to my eyes. John M. Emmert was training to work at North American Aviation late in 1940 before the plant was even finished. He was a student in the engine assembly department when the accident occurred. Students had to fully assemble an engine. Over night the instructors would disable something in one of the engines. The next morning the students had to locate the problem and fix it in a given amount of time. John's team tested their engine that morning and sure enough it was their turn at bat. The boys found the problem with no trouble but the student in the cockpit left the switches in the on position. John was able to jump out of the way when the massive engine started to turn over and the prop next to him started spinning. However, the student in the cockpit panicked and instead of shutting the engine down, pushed it to full throttle. John was as far away as he could get, on a raised platform with a hand rail keeping him from jumping clear ... when the props came off the engine. Johns left arm was completely severed along with the ends of his fingers on his right hand where he had been gripping the rail. The plant and the training facilities were out in the middle of nowhere back in the 40's. John's instructors fashioned a tourniquet out of electrical wire. When a medic finally arrived he cut that wire off and made a new tourniquet out of a rubber tire inner tube. John was still hospitalized when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He told of his pride when the first B-25 rolled of the line at Fairfax. He also told of the newspaper headlines when Col. Doolittle flew the ground-based B-25s off the Hornet and struck a blow for our side. |
Exactly 7 months and one day
after the accident occurred, John Emmert
took his place on the production line as an engine assembly inspector
at North American Aviation. He worked the night shift and supervised
the basic engines as they came out of the crates until they were fully
assembled and hung on the aircraft. Every day he faced the instrument that in a split second had taken so much from him. He dedicated himself to building the engines that drove the planes that helped deliver freedom to the world. He built his beloved B-25s until the plant closed in 1945. I lost track of John in the crowd as Bob Bold drew the lucky tickets for the VIP Rides. There were a few I that was holding out hope for but John didn't cross my mind because of his physical limitations. When I found him again he grinned at me and showed me his red ticket. "I'm going for a ride honey..." My daughter Lana had pulled his ticket out of the hat. I hugged him excitedly as he told me... "I have waited my entire life for just this moment... my entire life...." Again through the hubbub of the PX sales and all the goings-on I lost track of John. Then, I saw Greg climb down out of the Show Me after the first flight. After Greg came John Emmert with no assistance, his prosthetic arm hanging at his side. He was shaking Greg's hand and thanking him over and over when I grabbed him and hugged him. "It was everything I dreamed it would be ..." he told me. I said, "John .. I just wish you could have gone up to the nose.. the view from there is spectacular." He winked at me and said, "What makes you think I didn't?" We made dreams come true this weekend. On behalf of the Bomber builders and especially on behalf of John M. Emmert, I thank all our members who helped sponsor this flight of remembrance. I also thank the Wyandotte County Museum, for without their donation of fuel, John's lifelong dream would not have been realized. More stories to come.... |