The Motorcycle
The squadron at Guatemala City was commanded by a classmate of Bob's and a very good friend. Initially, there were no accommodations at the airport, so everyone was quartered in a downtown hotel—"pretty nice," Bob recalled.
But shortly after Bob arrived, facilities were built near the airport and they moved out there.
"Having no means of transport, I elected to buy a Harley motorcycle from a Colonel in the Guatemalan Air Force who gave me a good price."
Saturday Morning
"On a Saturday morning, no flying in store for me, I did a cleaning and tuning of the bike down at a hangar. Parallel to the runway, was a gravel road leading to our housing. I was riding down this road, one hand on the handlebar and the other on the fuel richness screw on the carb."
The Crash
Front wheel shudder. Gravel road. One hand on handlebars.
"I have no idea what triggered it, but I was suddenly aware that the cycle was in a vicious shuddering in the front wheel. Immediately, I was thrown off and slid down the road, face first."
The Jeep Ride
"Somebody saw this and got a jeep to take me to our little infirmary. I recall being conscious in the jeep ride and thinking I was freezing to death. This was about 10 am."
"I really came to, about 2 am the next morning, aching all over."
The Bridge
There was no dentist at the little infirmary.
"About 3 days later, the swelling in my face had gone down and I could move my jaws a bit. I then discovered that a bridge in my upper teeth was half way knocked out. I got a forceps from the nurse and took it all the way out."
The Relief
"Shortly after I recovered, I was relieved of duty there, and was ordered to the San Antonio air depot as a liaison to ride herd on the Panama airplanes being cycled through the depot, test fly them and determine their readiness to go back to the Zone. And in the process, get my front teeth restored."
It was "great duty"—being assigned to the test squadron meant he got to fly any airplane he wanted. But it couldn't last.
In November 1942, he got orders relieving him from the Canal Zone command and requiring him to report to an Air Corps personnel office in Salt Lake City. No leave en route. He reported and had two messages waiting: one telling him he'd been promoted to Major, and the other sending him on to Spokane, Washington, for duty as the Air Executive of the being-formed 351st Bomb Group.
The Harley-Davidson stayed in Guatemala. The bridge was eventually replaced in San Antonio.