In A Time Of War, Truth Is

It Is Not The Willingness To Kill On The Part Of Our Soldiers Which Most Concerns Me. That Is An Inherent Part Of War. It Is Our Lack Of Respect For Even The Admirable Characteristics Of Our Enemy; For Courage, For Suffering, For Death, For His Willingness To Die For His Beliefs, For His Companies And Squadrons Which Go Forth, One After Another, To Annihilation Against Our Superior Training And Equipment.

I Began To Feel That I Lived On A Higher Plane Than The Skeptics Of The Ground; One That Was Richer Because Of Its Very Association With The Element Of Danger They Dreaded, Because It Was Freer Of The Earth To Which They Were Bound. In Flying, I Tasted A Wine Of The Gods Of Which They Could Know Nothing. Who Valued Life More Highly, The Aviators Who Spent It On The Art They Loved, Or These Misers Who Doled It Out Like Pennies Through Their Antlike Days? I Decided That If I Could Fly For Ten Years Before I Was Killed In A Crash, It Would Be A Worthwhile Trade For An Ordinary Life Time.

True, The Fragile Bodies Of His Fellows Do Not Weigh Down His Plane; True, The Fretful Minds Of Weaker Men Are Missing From His Crowded Cabin; But As His Airship Keeps Its Course He Holds Communion With Those Rare Spirits That Inspire To Intrepidity And By Their Sustaining Potency Give Strength To Arm, Resource To Mind, Content To Soul. Alone? With What Other Companions Would Man Fly To Whom The Choice Were Given?

Our Emphasis On Science Has Resulted In An Alarming Rise In World Populations, The Demand And Ever-increasing Emphasis Of Science To Improve Their Standards And Maintain Their Vigor. I Have Been Forced To The Conclusion That An Over-emphasis Of Science Weakens Character And Upsets Life's Essential Balance.

Lying Under An Acacia Tree With The Sound Of The Dawn Around Me, I Realized More Clearly The Facts That Man Should Never Overlook: That The Construction Of An Airplane, For Instance, Is Simple When Compared [with] A Bird; That Airplanes Depend On An Advanced Civilization, And That Were Civilization Is Most Advanced, Few Birds Exist. I Realized That If I Had To Choose, I Would Rather Have Birds Than Airplanes.