March 6-9, 1944
Shot down March 5, 1944, still hiding from the Germans and French Milice.
I spent the night in a house in plain sight in Casteljaloux, France. I was hidden under the house in a space which extended from the front to the back of the house, a small window at either end so two chances of escape should the Germans come. The floor was dirt.
I stayed one day and that night, Dr. Henri and I rode bikes to a farm set far off the main road in Pompogne. I stayed in the little boy’s room while he slept with his parents.
The next day, the mother fed me breakfast. The father mimed his thoughts since he spoke no English and I spoke no French.
The next two days, the 5-year-old, whose name I later learned was Jean-Pierre, took me fishing in their pond and we kicked a ball around. I was itching to go fight Germans even if I had to do it on the ground.
(Note from Victoria Yeager: General Yeager and I met Jean-Pierre Jolis and his wife Claudine in 2010 and visited again several times over the years, the last being 2019. Jean-Pierre told me he didn’t do anything to save F/O Yeager, it was his parents who protected F/O Yeager. I replied: You kept General Yeager busy – otherwise he might have tried to fight Germans and gotten killed. Years later, Jean-Pierre became Mayor of Pompogne. Jean-Pierre told us that he was used to strangers – his parents helped a lot of folks during World War II. He became a butcher in Paris with his older brother. His father became ill so he brought his Parisian wife to Pompogne so he could help his father manage the farm and stayed. More stories re our visits with Jean-Pierre and Claudine to follow much later.)
- GCYI