“Lindbergh told the Japanese people what he had set out to do, and that he hoped that there’d be a regular airplane route between Japan and the United States. He said that he thought the route would be from the north, too, but a little south of the one that he and Anne had taken.
“Japan liked the Lindberghs, but they had to leave, bound for China. That was in September. Japan and China hadn’t decided yet to go to war, but things were pretty bad in China, anyway. The Yangtze Kiang and the Hwai river had overflowed and flooded hundreds of villages and cities. Together they’d covered about 1,000 square miles of land, so you can imagine in what sort of condition China was then. Everything that goes with flood had come to China too, including starvation and disease. The Relief Committee was doing all that it could to help the inland people, but it couldn’t do much, because there was no way of communicating with them, and of finding out who needed aid, and what towns had been flooded.
“As soon as Lindy landed in Nanking, he volunteered to help the Chinese government by making surveys of the flooded land. The government accepted his offer, and Lindy flew over the country, making reports of districts that were under water. He found a lot of places that no one knew about, and did wonderful work. At one place he landed on the water in a village that was completely covered. He had a doctor and medical supplies with him, but the poor Chinese thought that he had brought food. They paddled over to the plane, grabbed the supplies and tore them to shreds, looking for something to eat. Lindy and the doctors took off as soon as they possibly could. As a result of this, Lindy advised that all supplies should be brought by armed guards, and that food was the most urgent need at the moment. Because of the good work that he did, the President of China gave Lindy another medal to add to his collection, the Chinese Aviation Medal.
“In October the Lindbergh’s trip was suddenly cut short, in the first place, by an accident that might have proved pretty serious. The Colonel, Anne, and a doctor were setting out for a survey of the Tungting Lake district, and were to take off in the Yangtze. But just as they were about to leave the water the current caught one of the wings, and it crumpled up. The plane turned over, and threw them all into the river. They were all weighed down by their heavy suits, and could easily have drowned, but they were pulled out of the water. The Lockheed was pulled up on board a British carrier, and Anne and Lindy decided to go to Shanghai with it and wait while it was being repaired.
“While they were on board the Hermes, the aircraft carrier, they got word that Dwight Morrow, Anne’s father, had died. This meant that their trip was over, since they had to get back to the United States as quickly as possible. They took a steamer to Vancouver, and then flew across the country to Maine.”
“From then on the Lindberghs dropped out of the news, because they wanted to. And they didn’t figure in the news again until that terrible day when their baby was kidnapped. That was on March 1st, you remember. But in spite of everything that’s happened, Lindy is carrying on, and so is Anne Lindbergh. They’re still the country’s most loved couple.
“Lindy’s still working hard at aviation, and trying to make the world aviation conscious. That’s what he says his aim is, and that’s what he makes his trips for. He wants people to get so used to airplanes that they’ll ride in them just like they ride in automobiles, without thinking twice about it. He hasn’t had any serious accidents, because he’s always careful that everything’s in perfect order before he starts on a flight. That’s part of his program. He wants to make people see that if you’re cautious enough, flying isn’t dangerous.
“I think that Lindy’s succeeded in what he’s tried to do. The world, and especially the United States was never more interested in aviation than in the year that Lindy flew across the Atlantic. That made them sit up and take notice. The United States was way behind Europe in air service, but since it perked up and got interested in what could be done, why, its been getting ahead by leaps and bounds.
“And we mustn’t forget that the most important thing about Lindy is that he was born with wings. He wasn’t made a flyer, he just was one. I’ve seen him give an exhibition, when we went to see the air races, and golly, you could tell his plane from anybody else’s in the world. He handles it so easily, and takes it off like a thistle and brings it down like a feather. A plane’s just part of him.
“And besides that, he’s as modest as they come. Of course, that’s an old story. Everybody knows that. But it still strikes me as pretty marvelous that a man can make a big success when he’s only 25, and then go on as though nothing had happened, sticking to his work, only working harder than ever. If anybody gets my vote, it’s Lindy, even if he was running for President, and I was old enough to vote.” Bob stopped. “Well,” he said then, “I guess that’s the end of my story.”