The Power of Testimony

’TIL WE MEET AGAIN
addition of trigonometry and calculus, I was struggling to
keep up. Such a high standard for math was vital for a Navy
Air Corps pilot, as there were numerous calculations to be
made both when landing and when taking off. But even
though I understood why it was essential to be able to work
out the velocity required for takeoff given the weight of fuel
the plane was carrying and the speed at which the aircraft
carrier was traveling, it didn’t make the classes any easier.
So I wasn’t entirely surprised when one afternoon I was
called to the commander’s office. As I waited in the corridor
outside, I was joined by nine other cadets—​ including
Wetzler. Some, like me, were also having a hard time with
the math, but others had no academic struggles at all.
What reason could there be for all of us to meet with the
commander like this? As I looked around, I realized that all
these guys were from Ohio, but what could that have to do
with anything?
Before any of us managed to figure it out, the door
opened and all ten of us were called in.
The commander didn’t waste time with pleasantries.
“Now you all know that anybody who washes out of the
program at any point ends up as a second-​ class seaman.”
I felt my chest tighten. I knew this; everyone did. It was
one of the awkward truths about the V-5 program: those
who had hoped to conquer the skies as a Navy pilot but
failed were immediately retrained and sent to war packed
in one of the Navy’s ships or—​ even worse—​ in one of their
submarines. It’s true that if we earned our wings, we would
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