The
expense could not be justified under the new priorities.
Q. How did you get from fixing parachutes to writing reports about
mistakes and defects?
A. My change in jobs came about because of an incident when I worked
on parachutes and other emergency survival equipment. In 1942, large
numbers of damaged and deteriorated parachutes were shipped from
mainland U.S. bases to Hickam Field and other Air Corps bases in the
Pacific. For example, we received parachutes that were ripped or had
severely mildewed canopies; their were badly frayed suspension lines,
rusted metal connectors, and the cotton webbing straps that secured the
aircrew member were so rotten that they came apart when handled.
Other types of survival gear that came to us from the mainland also had
defects which made them useless in an emergency: life rafts and life
preservers did not inflate as they should, and escape-and-evasion kits
had missing components that would have been vital to a downed aircrew
member. In such circumstances, the assembly was unsafe and, at times,
beyond repair.
I complained to my supervisor about the quality of the parachutes and
survival gear that we were getting from the mainland, and he passed my
observations along to his supervisor.
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