The Power of Testimony

RAY AND BETTY WHIPPS
dropped from the V-5 program, I was grateful to have
passed. Now it was on to the third location for training,
where we would perfect our flying and come to grips with
the complex math required of pilots. This time I was sent
south to Saint Mary’s College near Berkeley, California.
For a boy from Columbus, the idea of being stationed in
the beautiful hills near San Francisco sounded almost too
good to be true—​ especially when I was told that the debutantes
from Berkeley were going to join us for a dance one
evening soon after we arrived.
Tradition stated that one cadet from each class would
lead the dancing, and somehow the honor that year was
mine. Even though I was in the best shape of my life, this
was one physical challenge I felt wholly unequipped to deal
with. I’d never been much of a dancer, and the thought of
being in the spotlight made me profoundly nervous. Still, I
did as I was told and filled in my name, height, and weight
on the card I was given. Apparently these cards would
ensure that dancers were paired up correctly.
What I didn’t realize until I stepped out onto the dance
floor was that one of my colleagues had seen this as a prime
opportunity to play a trick on me, and he’d made some
significant edits to my vital statistics. So while my dance
partner was expecting a six- foot- two, 200- pound specimen
of male perfection, instead she got a gangly guy of five foot
ten and 140 pounds who barely filled out his uniform.
There was no hiding the disappointment in her eyes.
“Why did you lie?” she whispered as we fumbled our way
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