William E. Davis attempted to save Albert R. Vesper and assisted in an attempt to save Sol R. Greenberg from burning, Meridian, Mississippi, February 20, 1945. In fog at night an airplane in which Vesper, 30, military pilot, and Greenberg, 30, crew chief, were riding crashed on a mountain slope. One wing was broken off, and the fuselage was torn and twisted. Davis, 40, carpenter, ran 2,000 feet to the airplane. Flames rose 25 feet above the severed wing and the fuselage. At the front of the cockpit where heat was intense but there were no flames, Davis tried to pull Vesper out. With a pocket-knife he cut Vesper’s safety-belt and then pulled him to the ground. After pulling off Vesper’s burning trousers, he dragged him farther away. Seeing Greenberg slumped in the rear seat, Davis ran back to the cockpit, which then was entirely aflame. Stepping onto the wing and wrapping his cap around his right hand, he reached with both hands through flames and grasped Greenberg’s clothing but could not move him. With a sapling he forced one of Greenberg’s legs that extended through a hole in the fuselage back into the cockpit. Standing on the wing, he tried to raise Greenberg with the sapling but lost his footing and fell backward. Quickly getting to his feet he continued his efforts to aid Greenberg. James Bell then arrived and he and Davis by means of the sapling moved Greenberg so that his arms were out of the flames. Getting hold of Greenberg’s arms, they pulled him out. Vesper and Greenberg were dead. Davis sustained an injury to his back and burns on his hands, arms, and chest. 40392-3412
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