What was it like flying gliders into combat?
We didn’t have it anything like the B-17 pilots, who were completely fatigued making those daylight bombing runs and dodging flak hour after hour. There were only eight missions in World War II in which gliders went into combat. I was involved in just two: Operation Market Garden and Bastogne. I never got a scratch in Operation Market Garden. Bastogne was awful. There was snow. Everything was frozen. There was blood everywhere. We were flying in fuel, ammunition and military hardware and taking wounded out. They stacked the wounded like cordwood. Q: Are you still flying? A: Yes. I have to fight the FAA harder than anyone else, but I pass all of the physicals with flying colors. Q: You and well-known Grand Canyon guide P.T. Reilly were among the first to lead trips through the Grand Canyon. How did that relationship develop? A: I met P.T. Reilly at a barbecue in Van Nuys, Calif., and he called me and started bugging me to row. He knew I rowed crew at UCLA, which, of course, was nothing
