Thomas Jefferson Adams, 60, labor supervisor, saved Ross H. Gray, 12, aviation cadet, and helped to save Maurice H. Hoffman, 23, aviator, from burning, Warrington, Florida., January 15, 1943. An airplane, in which Gray and Hoffman were riding, fell to the ground; and the nose and one wing caught fire, flames rising four to 30 feet. Hoffman was wedged in his seat and was paralyzed. Gray tried to open a door midway the length of the fuselage, but it was jammed. Adams ran to the airplane, pulled open the door, and stepped into the fuselage. In smoke and intense heat Adams pushed Gray toward the doorway, and Gray got out. Crouching, Adams groped his way to Hoffman, who was nine feet from the doorway. He tried to move Hoffman but could not. Choked by smoke, Adams went to the doorway, where he coughed and vomited. At his request John Henry Ross entered the fuselage; and they went to Hoffman, freed him, and pulled him to the doorway, where others pulled him out. Adams and Ross stepped out. Neither Gray nor Hoffman sustained fatal injuries. 39754-3314
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