Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

AFFIDAVIT OF L. E. PARKS

THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA,

County of Alameda:

Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared L. E. Parks, and after first being duly sworn, testified under oath to the following: That on or about February 21, 1943, at about 11:30 or 11:45 a. m. I was traveling in a westerly direction near what is commonly called the Thirteen Mile Road on Galveston West Beach on Galveston Island, when I observed a large Army bomber flying toward me traveling in an easterly direction about a mile and one-half away. There was an Army truck about 600 feet in front of me traveling in the same direction that I was. The plane went down very low before reaching the Army truck and then zoomed up over the top of it. The plane was then between my car and the Army truck, and as it approached my car, it dived down at me and then zoomed up over the top of my car and then back down again. My first reaction was that I was going to be struck by the plane and I started to try to get out of the way, but realizing that I did not have time and that there was nothing I could do, I just continued on. I was driving a 1941 Dodge coupe and my motor was real quiet. I also had my windows down and when the plane passed over me, both motors on this bomber seemed to be humming perfectly. After the plane passed over me I continued on down the beach until a man, who was fishing, by the name of B. F. Allen flagged me, and tole me that the plane had crashed about 500 or 600 yards up the beach east from where we were. Mr. Allen also flagged the Army truck which was in front of me and we all three went back to the scene of the accident.

When we arrived at the scene of the accident, the automobile, which had been struck by the bomber, was about 25 feet from the edge of the water, facing west and in about 3 feet of water. I had not seen this car before. Mr. Allen went out to the plane where some men were already removing bodies from the water and I picked up four of the people who had been in the automobile, which had been struck by the bomber, and took them to the Marine Hospital in Galveston.

I made a statement at the Army airport on Galveston Island shortly after this accident occurred that "it looked very much to me like the men in the plane were just acting fools."

I do not know any of the people involved in this collision, either the men in the bomber, the people who were in the car, or any of the witnesses.

L. E. PARKS.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 1st day of June A. D. 1943, to which witness my hand and seal of office.

[SEAL}

My commission expires July 28, 1945.

HAZEL G. CROMIE, Notary Public, State of California.

THE STATE OF TEXAS,

AFFIDAVIT OF R. C. MALITZ

County of Galveston:

Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared R. C. Malitz, who, after being duly sworn, deposes and says the following:

On February 21, 1943, at about 11:30 or 12 o'clock noon, I was near what is commonly called the Thirteen Mile Road on Galveston West Beach, when a large Army bomber crashed into the top of an automobile being driven by Francis L. Gause of this city, severely injuring Mr. Gause and several of his minor children, who were riding with him. It is my understanding that the children with him were Rosalind Gause, Helen Gause, Anna M. Gause, Jean Gause, David Gause. This bomber was flying very low, traveling in an easterly direction on Galveston West Beach when it crashed into the top of this automobile. When the plane hit the car I noticed a large cloud of dust fly into the air and immediately thereafter the plane went tumbling end over end in the edge of the water. The accident was so horrible, that I turned my car and drove in the opposite direction, as I did not want to see the injured people.

I go fishing practically every day and on many occasions while on Galveston West Beach fishing I have had these Army planes dive right down at me and come so close that I thought they were going to hit me and dive right into the ground. On one occasion, while fishing on Galveston West Beach with a man by the name of Fred Minor, of Galveston, Tex., an Army plane dived at us and came so low, that Mr. Minor jumped out of the chair he was sitting in and fell flat on his face on the beach, thinking he was going to be struck by the Army plane, and I feel safe in saying that the plane was so low that I would have touched it with my fishing pole; in fact, every time I went fishing these planes used to dive down, not only at me, but at all of the other people down on West Beach and it was not until Mr. Gause and his family were so critically injured and tne five men in the bomber were killed that this diving at people and cars on Galveston West Beach has stopped.

R. C. MALITZ. · Sworn to and subscribed before me this 27th day of May 1943, to which witness my hand and seal of office. [SEAL]

WILLIAM D. DECKER, Notary Public, Galveston County, Tex.

FURTHER STATEMENT OF WITNESSES

Our names are B. F. Allen, of 7614 Gardner Avenue, Houston, Tex., and employed by Joe Johnson, a subcontractor on the Dixon gun plant job in Houston; also L. E. Parks of 2795 Linson, Baumont, Tex., and am a carpenter working for Lummis Construction Co. at Magnolia Petroleum Co. job at Beaumont.

Each of us saw the plane before the accident between a plane and an automobile at about 11:30 to 11:45 a. m. on February 21, 1943. Mr. Allen was fishing and saw the plane about three-fourths of a mile away approaching him and it was very low. When the plane passed over him it was about 75 feet high going east. The wheels were up and both engines were purring nicely. Just a few minutes before a plane which might have been the same one passed over going in the other direction and about 300 feet high and might have been the same plane. Mr. Allen watched the plane the whole time after it passed him until the crack-up. The plane did not lose height that he could see and he saw it pass over the Army truck and the car, later learned to be the L. E. Parks' car and then the plane seemed to get off an even flight and a part of a wing flew off. He does not know whether the wing flew off or the plane left its even course first. About that time, that is, after the wing came off, the Parks' car was a little out of the way and he saw the plane skip twice in the water. He immediately got up his fishing tackle and got in his car and at that time the Parks car came up from the east and Allen flagged Parks and told him what had happened and also flagged down the Army truck and all three vehicles went to the scene of the accident. In Allen's judgment it was 500 or 600 yards from where he was to where the plane was down the beach.

Mr. Parks was driving alone in his car going west on the beach and saw the plane approaching about a mile and a half away. The plane was about a hundred feet high when he first saw it. The Army truck was the equivalent of about two blocks ahead of the Parks car and it looked like the plane lowered a little just before reaching the truck, then pulled up a little before reaching it, then lowered approaching the Parks car and then raised just a bit to get over it. Parks was first afraid he was going to be hit and had an inspiration to pull out but did not do so when the plane pulled over him and continued on without knowing that anything had happened until told by Allen.

When both of us got to the scene of the accident, the car which had been hit was about 25 feet from the edge of the water where the water was about thigh deep. The car was upright facing west. Neither of us had seen the car before. Mr. Allen went on out to the plane where some men were already removing bodies from the water and Mr. Parks picked up four of the people who had been in the car and took them to the Marine Hospital in Galveston. These people were all standing on the beach at the edge of the water. Mr. Allen brought out one body

Mr.

and it had on a parachute harness. Mr. Allen saw parachutes floating on the water. The soldiers had taken some of them out of the water and used them to cover up bodies. The parachutes were unfolded and were white. He recalls seeing three parachutes, also saw three Mae Wests floating on the water. Allen saw white steam or white smoke around the plane and the engines, thinks it was steam, and did not see any fire or smoke. The bodies were torn up badly. Neither of us saw any cars between the Allen car and the plane as it approached where Mr. Allen was and we are both sure there were none, that is, no automobiles or trucks in sight west of Mr. Allen on the beach.

Signed by each of use in the presence of each other at 4 p. m. February 21, 1943, in the control building at the Municipal Airport at Galveston. The man in the car said to Parks on the way to the hospital that he saw the plane approaching him and he tried to miss the plane by pulling over to the left.

О

L. E. PARKS,
B. F. ALLEN.

LOUIS T. KLAUDER

February 9, 1945.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. PITTENGER, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 1400]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1400) for the relief of Louis T. Klauder, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

Page 1, line 6, strike out the figures "$3,750", insert in lieu thereof the figures "$1,904.80".

A similar bill was favorably reported by this committee in the Seventy-eighth Congress and passed the House.

The facts will be found fully set forth in House Report No. 1462, Seventy-eighth Congress, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report.

[H. Rept. No. 1462, 78th Cong., 2d sess.]

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to appropriate the sum of $1,904.80 to Louis T. Klauder, of Moorestown, N. J., in full settlement of all claims against the United States as compensation for engineering services rendered in connection with a Rural Electrification Administration project in Franklin County, Mass., known or designated as Massachusetts 3 Franklin.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

It appears that Mr. Louis T. Klauder, an engineer, entered into a contract on October 9, 1936, with the Tri County Electric Co. to furnish engineering services on a Rural Electrification Administration project. This contract was duly signed by Mr. Everett M. Johnson, president of Tri County Electric Co., and approved by the Rural Electrification Administration. This contract was entered into through the requirements of the financing of this project through the Rural Electrification Administration.

Under section 1 of article II, subsection c of the construction loan contract between the United States and the Tri County Electric Co., the requirements were set forth as follows:

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »