Back to reality back in 1978 at Spencer’s museum.
Outside the bomber room, Cindy waited and looked at her watch. “Where is she?” Cindy quietly said to herself while she continued to look around her museum for the person who wanted to meet with her.
She glanced back inside the Bomber Room and got curious when she saw the crowd gathered around the Sweet Bird display.
She went inside the Bomber Room.
Inside the Bomber Room, the crowd all loved the story of Jason’s life.
Some women wiped away tears, and even a few men also discreetly wiped away some tears.
“Same old story of a woman tricking a guy into marriage,” one of the men said from the crowd.
His wife elbowed him to indicate she didn’t like his comment. A few nearby men chuckled over that sight.
“After I reenlisted, I was stationed at MacDill in Florida for B twenty-nine training. Kenny Moore fired dad, so I sent him fifty percent of my pay until he found a job four months later in Baltimore. Then a few years later, I transferred into the Air Force, where I spent the rest of my thirty-year career. I retired as a Colonel in seventy,” he told the crowd.
Robyn gave Jason a kiss on his cheek as she felt sorry for those events that happened so long ago.
“What happened to Hans?” one of the men curiously asked from the crowd.
“In fifty-four, I was stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Since Hans lived in Kaiserslautern, I was able to see him again. Hans would rent an airplane at a local German airport, and I gave him some lessons. I got my flight instructor’s license a few years before that while stationed in Illinois. I really don’t regret shooting Colonel Bruker to save Hans life. He’s now a pilot for Lufthansa airlines, and I see him occasionally when he flies to the states,” Jason told everybody.
“What happened to your lovely sister?” a woman in the crowd asked.
“She married Sidney in forty-eight, and they had a beautiful daughter named Robyn,” he said then kissed Robyn’s cheek. Then he looked saddened while he remembered something else. “But then a drunk driver killed Wendy and Sidney in fifty-eight. Since my parents were too old, I took in Robyn and raised her,” he added.
“And he was a wonderful father and uncle to me,” Robyn said while she kissed his cheek.
“Did you never married? Or tried to contact Cindy?” another woman curiously asked from the crowd.
“No. Peggy tried to trick me into marrying her, and as far as Cindy went, I thought about contacting her, but she was married, and I knew I couldn’t have her. So why bring up that heartache again?” he responded.
“Not all women will break your heart, Uncle Jason.”
All the women in the crowd nodded in agreement with Robyn.
“She right,” a woman added.
“I never stopped loving Cindy. She still has my heart,” Jason said with sadness in his eyes.
Robyn gave Jason a little hug.
“Jay Jay, is that you?” Cindy’s voice curiously called out from the crowd.
Jason’s eyes widen, as that voice sounded so familiar.
He looked at the crowd for the source of that female voice.
Cindy pushed her way through the people and stopped the second she saw Jason on the bench. She stared at him, then her eyes widened like she saw a ghost. “Oh, my God! It’s you, Jay Jay! It’s really you! But, how can this be?” she said while her eyes welled up.
Jason looked at Cindy, and then it dawned on him; it was the girl he loved so long ago. Then he seemed stunned at the sight of Cindy and got mad. “You said you would never love another man!” he yelled at her.
“But I thought,” Cindy replied while she walked up to him.
“You thought? When it looked like I wasn’t coming back, you thought of another man. That’s what you thought!” Jason said, interrupting Cindy.
She rushed over to Jason. “No! It wasn’t like that!” she replied while her eyes continued to well up.
Everybody in the crowd watched in awe while Jason’s life story continued in real life.
“Of course not. It’s like this,” he said while he touched his scar above his left eye. “A souvenir of trying to keep your memory alive while in a prisoner of war camp.”
“Jay Jay, please let me explain!” she pleaded.
Jason stormed off and pushed his way back through the crowd.
Robyn looked back at the photo on display and then looked at Cindy and saw her “Cindy Spencer” name tag.
Robyn got up from the bench and ran after Jason and grabbed his arm. “Uncle Jason, I had no idea she was your past love when I set up a meeting.”
“You did what?” he asked, upset with Robyn.
“I set up a meeting to discuss opening up a bigger place at this airport. I thought you might have a better chance down here in West Haven.”
“I don’t ever want to see or talk to that woman!” he snapped back and started to walk away.
Robyn grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Maybe she has a valid reason for leaving you. I think you should hear her out,” she scolded him.
“The only valid reason is she let someone screw her, while I was a POW,” he yelled back.
Robyn looked back and saw Cindy wipe away some tears. “No! If you don’t give her this chance, you’ll lose her forever. So quit being a stubborn old fool!” she snapped back at him.
Jason looked at Robyn then he looked at Cindy, who was visibly upset. He thought about leaving but knew Robyn would be on his case about this for years.
He walked back to Cindy. “Okay, at least I can hear your side of what happened,” he said while he sat back down on the bench next to Jason.
It was total silence while everybody curiously waited for Cindy to tell her side of the story.
“I remember that day your plane flew off on that mission,” Cindy said.
Robyn stood next to Jason and placed her hand on his shoulder while Cindy continued with her story.
Cindy’s story about what happened back in England during World War II.
Back at the Chipley Springs airfield, Cindy stood by the corner of the Administration Building and watched while the B-17s waited in line for their turn to take-off.
Cindy saw that the Sweet Bird that was second in line to take-off.
Cindy silently prayed while she watched the Sweet Bird roll down the runway and was soon airborne.
She watched while the Sweet Bird banked to the right and flew off with the other B-17s.
She waited by the side of the building until the B17s were just small dots in the sky.
She turned around and went back inside the Administration Building to return to her typing.
Like all days when Jason flew out on a mission, Cindy was nervous, and her stomach was upset while she worried while she typed all those Army letters.
During her lunch break that day, Cindy rushed into Chipley Springs and talked with a local Priest. She was elated when he agreed to marry Jason and Cindy, and couldn’t wait to tell him when he returned from his mission.
It was later that day, and word started to spread throughout the building that the bombers were returning from their mission.
Cindy got up from her typewriter and rushed over to the side exit doors.
Cindy stood at her spot at the corner of the building. She looked to the sky where the B-17s were small dots approaching the airfield.
A few minutes later, the B-17s started their turn to final approach for the runway.
Her heart raced while she watched the planes took turns and landed on the runway.
“Four planes are missing,” an officer was heard from the front of the Administration Building.
Cindy’s stomach got upset when she heard that news and had a strong feeling something was wrong.
She ran toward the flightline to get a closer look at the planes while they taxied off the runway.
Her heart raced while she watched while the B-17s parked on the flightline and she couldn’t see the Sweet Bird.
When it was safe, Cindy ran to the flightline for a closer view.
Cindy rushed down the flightline, and she had a horrible gut feeling something was wrong when she couldn’t find the Sweet Bird.
She saw Captain Clint Leigh while he walked away from his B-17 called Hitler’s Nightmare.
She rushed over Clint. “Excuse me, where’s the Sweet Bird?” she asked him with concern in her eyes.
Clint looked at Cindy’s worried eyes, and then he looked sad when he remembered hearing about her.
“I’m sorry, they got shot down, and we don’t know if they survived,” he answered with sadness in his eyes.
Cindy stared at Clint for a few seconds, then it dawned on her what happened to Jason. She dropped to her knees and sobbed in her hands.
Clint got Cindy up on her feet, hugged her, and she sobbed in his chest.
Clint placed his arm around her, and he walked her back to the Administration Building.
During the rest of that day, Cindy looked like a zombie while she attempted to type some letters.
The next two weeks were horrible for Cindy, as she didn’t sleep a wink worrying if Jason was dead or alive.
One night, Cindy nervously paced outside the Let’s Boogie Down dance hall. She looked exhausted with bags under her eyes while she eyed the door of the dance hall. Her stomach had been in constant turmoil from not knowing the fate of Jason.
She watched while soldiers entered and left the dance hall.
Her eyes widened the second she saw Clint step out of the dance hall, and she rushed over to him. “Excuse me, has there been any word on the crew of the Sweet Bird?” she asked and looked worried.
Clint looked remorseful at Cindy. “I’m sorry. We got word that gravesites of some of the crew members were found by the wreckage in a field by a farm,” he told her.
Cindy’s eyes welled up while she feared the worse. “Was Jason, Jay Jay, Jenkins one of them?” she asked, and her stomach was in turmoil while she waited for his response.
“No,” he told her.
Cindy looked relieved. “Is he on his way back to England?” she asked with hopeful eyes.
Clint looked at Cindy’s hopeful eyes. “I’m sorry. I also heard he was captured by the Germans and is probably in a Stalag,” he said.
Cindy’s eyes welled up, her knees shook, and she dropped to the ground in shock. She looked up at Clint. “Can I write to him?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Clint replied while he helped her up on her feet.
Cindy smiled at Clint for being so kind.
Two weeks had passed, and it was Saturday morning.
Cindy was in her apartment, drinking tea while she wrote a letter to Jason. She wrote four letters so far, and Clint promised he would pass them onto the Red Cross.
Someone knocked on her apartment door.
She got up, walked over, and opened her door.
She saw Peggy standing out in the hallway, in her Army uniform, and it was an uncomfortable moment.
“I don’t hate you for what happened. I fully accepted the fact that Jason loves you more than me,” Peggy said from the hallway and looked sincere.
Then Peggy suddenly looked bothered and glanced down the hallway. “Mind your own business!” she yelled, then looked back at Cindy. “I’m sorry, but some old man was peeking out his apartment door spying on me,” she said.
“That would be nosey Albert. So, why are you here to see me?” Cindy asked a little bothered by her presence.
“May I please step inside for a few minutes?” Peggy asked politely.
“I don’t think we should be talking to each other,” Cindy replied.
“Please, I have news about Jason,” Peggy replied and looked serious.
“Okay, please come inside,” Cindy said while she stepped aside from the door.
Peggy walked into her apartment, and Cindy closed the door.
There was a moment of awkward silence while Peggy removed a hanky from her purse.
Cindy’s stomach started to get upset while she watched Peggy wipe her eyes with the hanky.
“I found out from the Army,” she said then wiped her eyes again with her hanky. “That Jason died from being shot while he and some other POWs, tried to escape from a German Stalag,” Peggy added with some more wiping of her eyes with the hanky.
Cindy looked at Peggy’s red and watery eyes.
Peggy reached in her purse, removed a folded letter, and she handed the letter to Cindy.
Cindy opened up the letter and saw it was official Army correspondence. Cindy read it then looked like her soul was ripped out of her body. It stated that 1st Lieutenant Jason Jenkins was fatally shot in Luft Stalag XXG while attempting to escape. She dropped to the floor and sobbed into the letter.
Peggy helped her up and hugged her for comfort.
Cindy cried all weekend over the death of Jason.
Monday morning arrived, and Cindy, with red puffy eyes, walked in a stupor to her typing job on the airfield.
She walked to her desk, sat down, and removed the cover off her typewriter.
Sergeant Wilson walked up to Cindy’s desk and looked serious. “Major Parker would like a word with you,” he said then turned around and walked away.
Cindy got up from behind her desk and walked over to Major Parker’s office.
She knocked on his opened door.
“Please come inside Miss Grant,” Major Parker said while he looked up from his desk.
Cindy walked inside his office. She was curious why the Major wanted to see her, as this never happened in the past.
“Please have a seat, Miss Grant,” Major Parker said with a serious tone.
Cindy sat down in the chair in front of his desk.
He looked square in Cindy’s eyes. “Sergeant Wilson, reacting on an anonymous tip, found some stolen medical supplies hidden in one of your desk drawers,” Major Parker said.
Cindy’s eyes widened in shock, overhearing his statement, and she got nervous. “I didn’t steal any medical supplies. I swear!” Cindy nervously replied.
“I don’t have a choice in this matter, you’re fired,” Major Parker responded with a serious look. “Please gather up your personal belongings, and you’ll be escorted from the airfield,” he added then returned to his paperwork.
Cindy got up and was dazed while she walked to his office door.
Cindy walked back to her desk where Jack and Wally, the MPs, waited for her to return.
“I need your identification card, Miss Grant,” Jack asked.
Cindy opened up her purse and removed her identification card that granted her access onto the airfield.
She then walked to the side door with Jack and Wally by her side.
Jack and Wally walked Cindy to the gate and watched while she walked back into the English community.
Cindy moped down the street and headed back to her apartment in Chipley Springs.
Later that day, Cindy sat on the bench on the sidewalk near her apartment building. She held the picture of her and Jason under the nose of the Sweet Bird. Tears ran down her cheek and dropped on the picture while she thought about Jason.