Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol

“I should worry,” replied Bill as he lay on his back on the bank of the McKenzie River. “Let him do the worrying. I am having a marvelous time just lying here thinking how wonde...

“I am Lieutenant Finch, and this is Lieutenant Bruce. We both are members of the Army Air Service,” said Bob when Bill had ceased speaking. “We have fishing licenses, but no cam...

“That’s the usual fisherman’s story,” said Cecil. “You already have acquired one of the prime requisites of a regular fisherman. The largest fish always gets away. Let’s see wha...

“There’s nothing that we can do for the present,” answered Bill. “Let’s pack up and get going. We ought to pick out some place above here on the river where we can make a good c...

“You are just in time,” said Simmons. “I am sending out a crew to try and limit the southern movement of the fire. Have either of you ever fought a forest fire before?”

It had been a long, hard day for Bill Bruce. He had fished all morning and had rested a while after lunch, but since the time that Cecil had left, he had been working hard. The...

“How did you enjoy your life in the woods?” asked Captain Smith when Bill Bruce and Bob Finch reported for duty at the flying field at the Presideo at San Francisco.

When Bill Bruce felt the pull of the sinking airplane on his leggin, he knew that he had to do some fast moving and some faster thinking to escape being dragged to the bottom of...

The bay with its lights along the water’s edge had now lost its beauty for Bill. The night had become an agent which seemed to add further dangers to the perils which already se...

“Orders are being issued for the Squadron to leave for Eugene, Oregon, where we will establish temporary headquarters,” said Smith. “We will leave tomorrow morning. That is, par...

When Bill Bruce went up into the clouds and disappeared from the view of the other pilots in his Flight, for a moment the men in the planes following were stupefied. It took som...

That night the officers and enlisted men secured living accommodations in the town. After the truck train arrived, the enlisted personnel would all be quartered in tents on the...

Bill Bruce had no conception of the size of the State of Oregon until he started out on his patrol the next morning with Forester Kotok. His patrol route covered the Siuslaw and...

The patrols over the forest continued day after day. As the planes landed, the master map in the operations office became more and more spotted with its colored pins. The number...

As the plane started to turn over on its back, Bill debated as to whether or not he should unfasten his safety belt. The somersault of the plane had come so suddenly that he did...

Bill found it rather hard to get to sleep. The pine needles were not as soft as they seemed at first. Then there were the usual noises that are ever prevalent in the forests. Th...

“There’s no use watching any more today,” said Mollie. “Most of the fires start during the middle of the day. It is very seldom that I can pick a new one after sundown. There ar...

During the next few weeks the patrols became monotonously routine. The hot, dry weather continued and the fires broke out with a regularity which nonplussed the foresters and th...

That flight up the Willamette and down the Umpqua was ever afterwards a nightmare to Bill. There were so many times when the difference between life and death rested upon his mo...

Bob Finch was as much in the dark as to the cause of the merriment as was Bill. Bill tried to reel in his line, but the fish would not respond. He fought against every move on B...

The three days’ vacation at Roseburg passed much too rapidly for Bill and Bob. They would have liked to stay there for a much longer period. Earl Simmons wanted to get back to E...

Bill left the headquarters building with a heavy load on his mind. As far as he could see, he had put himself in such a position that he had to make that parachute jump. He went...

Captain Smith at once saw that he was risking the lives of both Bill and himself by holding on to Bill’s flying suit. Accordingly he released his grip and confined his activitie...

“When we came back from Roseburg there were but twelve fires burning in the whole state,” replied Earl Simmons. “Eleven of them were new ones which had been started by lightning...

Bill lost no time in getting back into the pilot’s seat. He caught the plane as it was falling off onto one wing. By skillful manipulation of the controls, he changed the moveme...