Oakie's Heartland Clippings

Vol. 75, No. 28, Thursday, June 17, 1999

Tribute To Father

I have been blessed recently with communications with a few people who have been relaying great memories and stories about my father, Gene McGill.

There are a lot of people who think they know my father and what he was really like. Some of those people talk (talked) about him behind his back. Those who did, didn't really know or understand him at all.

My dad didn't much care for or respect thsoe who talked (gossiped). I remember father in the 1960s when he was Oklahoma State Chairman of the Democratic Party with his office in Oklahoma City at the biltmore Hotel.

Everyone was treated as his equal. From the homeless, to the wealthiest, to the color of your skin. Everyone was equal in his eyes and deserved the same amount of respect and treatment.

A recent connection, Les Jacobs, reminded me of some wonderful memories of my father that some of you might remember and some may have forgotten.

Les says, "Gene McGill was one hell of a pilot. He is one of the few survivors who flew in the "Hump in WWII."

I am not really sure what the "Hump in WWII" was, but the story was told to Les by Bill Hackett several years ago. I got to thinking about the "Hump in WWII" and my dad. he never was enlisted in the WWII, because he was one of those farmers that stayed at home to produce the food. His brother, Bob McGill, was in WWII, though. perhaps Bill Hackett may have gotten Gene confused with Bob McGill's WWII record?

So I went to the Web in search of some information. This is what I found out about it at the following URL -- Vets Commemorate CBI campaign:

"The campaign provided a constant flow of to air and ground Allied Forces deep within China and Southeast Asia. Pilots took off and landed on primitive, quickly established airfields. Often flying three round trips a day over what many consider the most treacherous air route in the world. Crews wrestled C-46s, C-47s and C-45s over the 500-mile route that ran from bases in Assam, India, over northern Burma to Kunming, China. Maj. Gen Eugene Sterling holds the distinction of having flown one of the first C-46 transports from the United States to India to join the campaign. He and other crews quickly dubbed these aerial supply missions, `The Hump'. The voyage took them over the Himalayas, the world's highest mountain range, that peaks at more than 29,000 feet with Mount Everest."

Unless there was anothe "Hump" in America during WWII to pilot supplies here in American, I think Les may have gotten my Dad confused with his brother, Robert L. McGill, my late uncle Bob McGill.

Les goes on to tell, "The pilots in Northwest Oklahoma would tell you that if you got into trouble in the air, the best chance of coming out alive would be to have Gene in the airplane with you! He was an Ace!"

In the '60's, Gene had a Cessna 180 (a real pilot's airplane, I'm told). The same thing as a Cessna 182 (or Skylane), except that it had conventional gear. ie: two wheels and a tail wheel, as opposed to the tricycle gear that he had on the 210, which he later acquired. The reason he had the airplane with the conventional landing gear was so he could land it at the ranch north of Waynoka.

The newer plane (210 Cessna), has a unique landing story of its own. It included a time when the landing gear did not come down and he made a belly landing at the Alva Airport. Only Gene could accomplish something like that with minor scratches to the belly of the airplane and the passengers and the pilot escaping without injury.

The Skydiving Story

Les Jacobs remembered the time that Buddy and a friend of theirs, Dave Cotten, had parachutes and the necessary gear for skydiving, but didn't have a jump plane.

One night after talk at the VFW Supper Club those three guys persuaded Gene into flying them. They attached a 2x4 across the entry steps of the 180 Cessna in order to crawl out of the plane in the air and stand on the board, hanging on to the wing strut, and drop from the airplane into a stable position.

Les says, "They had to remove the right hand door and take the passenger front seat out of the plane to prepare it for jumping."

Denver Airport

There was a time that father took off in Denver and realized he was on an airstrip that had been abandoned and had a fence across it. He was probably the only person in the world who could handle the trauma, but he bounced the plane over the fence, recovered, flew away, and then flew directly to the FAA headquarters in OKC and raised holy hell with the big dogs in the FAA. He cleaned house and gave them one of the best chewings they had ever had.

In one man's words, "He was considered by many as fearless."

This is just another trait I received from my Dad!

Dad, if you are looking down on your daughters now, I hope you like what you see in this daughter! Thank you for instilling in me what you did!

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