Thurman E. Gunter, 30, druggist, saved William H. Nelson, 31, flight engineer, and Richard E. Birdsall, 25, flight instructor, from burning and an explosion, Albuquerque, New Mexico, December 19, 1943. A four-motor airplane, in which Nelson, Birdsall, and four other soldiers were flying, crashed to the ground; and fire started in one of the wings near the cockpit. Birdsall broke a hole in the canopy at the opposite side of the cockpit, and he and two of the others got out. Birdsall climbed back into the cockpit, and another soldier got out. The side of the cockpit was burning, and flames were three feet high on the wing. Gunter ran 2,000 feet to the side of the cockpit, Birdsall then having dragged Nelson, who was unconscious, to a point beneath the hole. Fire was four feet from Birdsall. Standing in holes torn in the fuselage, Gunter reached into the cockpit, grasped Nelson under the arms, but could lift him only a few inches. At his suggestion Birdsall lifted Nelson’s legs, and Gunter pulled Nelson out feet first. Air in the cockpit was hot. As Birdsall was reaching to take hold of another soldier, who was covered with flames, Gunter grasped Birdsall’s jacket, restraining him and telling him to get out as the man was dead. Birdsall turned, and Gunter released his hold and jumped to the ground. Birdsall got out, falling head first. Meanwhile two other civilians had arrived and carried Nelson and the other three away from the airplane. Two minutes later gasoline tanks and oxygen tanks exploded. The airplane was entirely destroyed, and the soldier in the cockpit was burned to death. Nelson and Birdsall sustained serious but not fatal injuries. 40221-3379
40221 – 3379
40221-3379